The victory of the right-wing José Antonio Kast in Chile follows the path of others Latin American countries that have turned towards conservatism in recent yearsas is the case of nations such as Bolivia and Argentina.
While, at the opposite pole, Brazil, Uruguay, and Colombia stand out, which have taken the opposite path, from the right to left-wing governments.
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In other cases the political sign has been maintained: from the conservative Paraguay to the progressive Costa Rica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
In addition, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua have maintained authoritarian regimes for decades which are also questioned by numerous international organizations due to their serious human rights violations, repression and absence of democracy. While countries like El Salvador are turning more towards autocratic policies.
José Antonio Kast, new president of Chile. Photo:EFE
With the return of the radical right in Chile since the end of the dictatorship, The political map of Latin America reflects that nine countries are led by left-wing governments compared to seven that are conservative, not counting the three mentioned regimes.
Likewise, millions of Latin Americans in several countries will go to the polls next year to decide their next rulers, in a few days with high expectations for what could be the consolidation of the right on the continent, or the resistance of the so-called pink wave.
This is how political forces are distributed in Latin America
The president-elect, José Antonio Kast, of the far-right Republican Party, will take office in March 2026.
He will be the first far-right president elected in democracy and his victory will mark a radical change in the country’s political agenda, after the progressive government of Gabriel Boric.
The government has been led since 2022 by Gustavo Petro, of the Historical Pact, an alliance of leftist movements. His arrival at the House of Nariño made him the first left-wing president in the country’s modern history.
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In 2026, Colombians are called to elect a new president for the next four years, on a key day that could mark the continuation of the leftist project or the return of the right to power.
Petro succeeded Iván Duque, of the Democratic Center party.
President Gustavo Petro questioned the triumph of José Antonio Kast. Photo:Presidency
The libertarian Javier Milei defeated the Peronist Sergio Massa in the second round of the November 2023 elections and is celebrating his second year in power.
Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA) is a far-right, libertarian-oriented force.
Rodrigo Paz Pereira took office on November 8, 2025 after winning the elections that year.
He is a center-right politician of the Christian Democratic Party, who succeeded former president Luis Arce, after almost twenty years of governments of the Movement towards Socialism.
Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira, of the Christian Democratic Party. Photo:AFP
On October 1, 2024, he assumed power Claudia Sheinbaum, who continues the project of the previous Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), a left-wing party.
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On January 1, 2023, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came to power again, after defeating the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula da Silva leads the Workers’ Party, a left-wing organization.
The Superior Electoral Court It became official on October 4, 2026 for the general elections. Lula is qualified to seek a fourth term, but the age of the octogenarian leader calls into question whether he will be able to stay in power for another four years. Meanwhile, Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s other great political figure, is serving a 27-year sentence and remains disqualified until 2030, so his son picked up the flags and announced his pre-candidacy.
Arrival of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the CELAC-EU summit. Photo:Colombian Foreign Ministry
Nicolás Maduro, in power in 2013 and after declaring himself without evidence as the winner of the 2024 presidential elections, maintains control of a regime in the neighboring country. The legitimacy of the last elections were widely questioned by the opposition and part of the international community and have unleashed a strong wave of repression by the Chavista authorities.
Leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and main figure of Chavismo in the country, he inherited the Government of Hugo Chávez after his death.
Nicolás Maduro speaking during a mobilization, in Caracas (Venezuela). Photo:EFE
The current president is José Jerí, of the center-right Democratic Party Somos Perú, who assumed the Presidency after the dismissal of the progressive Dina Boluarte, in October 2025.
The Andean country tAn election day is scheduled for April 2026 in which the new president will be elected, in an environment marked by the departure of a dozen leaders in the last decade, involved in scandals and strong criticism against their governments.
Since 2023, the country has been presided over by Daniel Noboa, leader of National Democratic Action; He was re-elected in 2025 for a new term.
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Noboa, the son of one of the richest men in the country, considers himself center-left, and in his political beginnings was an admirer of the Brazilian president, Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva. But his actions They place him in practice closer to the neoliberal right.
Daniel Noboa, president of Ecuador. Photo:AFP
Governed by Bernardo Arévalo de León, who took office on January 14, 2024 after winning the 2023 general elections with the Movimiento Semilla party, with a social democratic tendency.
The Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) has governed since 2020, it is a social democratic political force, which defines itself as center-left. The president is Luis Abinader, re-elected in May 2024.
Pending the close of the scrutiny of the elections held on November 30, 2025, the current president of the country is Xiomara Castro de Zelaya.
Since 2022, she is the first woman in that position. She was elected by the Libertad y Refoundación (Libre) party, with a left/social democratic orientation.
The preliminary results of the November elections were very close between the candidates Nasry Asfura (National Party of Honduras, right/conservative), supported by Donald Trump, and Salvador Nasralla (Liberal Party, center/right).
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Since March 1, 2025, Yamandú Orsi, of the Frente Amplio, has governed, a left-wing coalition that returned to power after a parenthesis of the center-right presidency with Luis Lacalle Pou.
Previously, the Frente Amplio had governed the country for fifteen years.
Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador. Photo:AFP
Nayib Bukele has governed since June 1, 2019 with the conservative party the Great Alliance for National Unity (GANA), and was re-elected with the ruling party Nuevas Ideas (NI), on February 4, 2024, with a large majority.
Bukele’s ideological tendency combines elements of authoritarian populism, social conservatism and political pragmatism. His constitutional reforms, complaints of persecution and exile of the opposition, as well as his tough policy against criminal gangs, They have been criticized by international organizations such as Amnesty International and UN observers.
Daniel Ortega has led the country since 2007. After the constitutional reforms of 2025, the division of powers was eliminated, the presidential term was extended to six years and the co-presidency of the country was granted to his wife, Rosario Murillo, thus consolidating the matrimonial dictatorship in the Central American country.
The Colorado Party of Paraguay, conservative, nationalist and traditionalist, has governed the country since 2013, and has actually been at the head of Paraguay almost uninterruptedly since the middle of the last century, except for a period between 2008 and 2013, in which the president was Fernando Lugo, with the support of the Liberal Party.
In the last elections, in April 2023, the Colorado Party consolidated its dominance with the victory of its presidential candidate, Santiago Peña.
In the April 2022 elections, Rodrigo Chaves, of the Social Democratic Progress Party (PPSD), with a social democratic ideology, was elected president.
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Chaves defeated José María Figueres, of the National Liberation Party (PLN), a center-left party that was in power between 2018 and 2022.
Costa Rica is another of the countries called to elect a new president in February 2026, however, Rodrigo Chaves, who has governed since 2022, cannot seek immediate re-election, so the ruling party is exploring a new party vehicle while distancing itself from the PPSD that brought it to power.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Photo:AFP
President José Raúl Mulino, of the conservative party Realizing Goals, He won the May 2024 elections, after replacing former president Ricardo Martinelli as a candidate after he was convicted and disqualified for money laundering.
Mulino succeeded Laurentino Cortizo of the center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).
The leader of the regime is Miguel Díaz-Canel, who relieved Raúl Castro, Fidel’s brother, of the Communist Party of Cuba, the only legal one in the country.
On the other hand, in the north of the continent, the Republican Donald Trump has governed the United States since last January after defeating the Democrat Joe Biden, and in Canada the liberal Mark Carney succeeded Justin Trudeau, also a liberal.
With information from EFE
