The year 2025 is shaping up to be a politically charged one in Latin America, with several key elections set to take place across the subcontinent. While the world is in turmoil, from Mozambique to Ukraine, Latin America is not immune to global convulsions, with several significant political crises unfolding in numerous countries in the region. This year, four key elections are scheduled in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador, which will determine the near future of these nations.
Key elections in Latin America in 2025
Ecuador
The first major election in Latin America in 2025 is set for February 9 in Ecuador, amid a complicated political landscape. In May 2023, President Guillermo Lasso resigned after only two years in office, triggering early elections won by current President Daniel Noboa. Elected to complete Lasso’s term, the right-wing politician is serving less than two years instead of a full four-year mandate.
Noboa is now seeking reelection but faces criticism from both allies and the opposition. His brief term of just over a year has been marked by escalating gang violence and an unprecedented energy crisis caused by drought, forcing the government to implement rolling power blackouts nationwide.
Noboa’s presidency has also been defined by a power struggle with Vice President Veronica Abad Rojas. To distance the deputy leader from government affairs, he appointed her as ambassador to Israel and then to Turkey. These actions have led to frequent public clashes between the two leaders.
Ten other candidates are competing in the election. Noboa’s main challenger is Luisa Gonzalez, leader of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Movement, a party founded by former President Rafael Correa, who is currently in exile. Polls show a tight race between the two.
Voters will also elect members of Ecuador’s National Assembly for a four-year term.
Bolivia
Like its Andean neighbors, Bolivia has faced an unresolved political crisis for several years. General elections are set for August 17 to elect a president and renew the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
In power since November 2020, President Luis Arce is running for reelection in a challenging political landscape. While consolidating the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party’s hold on power by prosecuting former President Jeanine Áñez for the 2019 coup and facilitating the return of exiled leader Evo Morales, Arce has clashed directly with Morales.
As Morales’ former economy minister, Arce has resisted restoring the influence Morales held before his exile, leading to internal party conflicts. Morales is now under an arrest warrant for aggravated human trafficking, a charge his supporters claim is tied to political tensions within MAS.
Polls currently show no clear front-runner. Within MAS, both Morales and Arce appear overshadowed by Andronico Rodriguez, a 36-year-old cocalero (coca farmer) who has been president of the Senate since 2020. Despite its challenges, the MAS remains favored among Indigenous voters, as it has consistently defended their interests, particularly those of coca farmers.
In the opposition, notable candidates include Manfred Reyes Villa, a businessman, former military officer, and runner-up in the 2009 elections, who is currently the mayor of Cochabamba, one of Bolivia’s largest cities. Former President Jorge Quiroga (2001-2002) is also running.
Argentina
Two years after electing Javier Milei as president, Argentines will return to the polls on October 26 to renew nearly half of the deputies and one-third of the senators. The legislative elections will serve as an important midterm test for Milei.
Since becoming president, Milei has launched a sweeping libertarian and ultra-liberal revolution in Argentina, targeting the state, the left, and those he labels as “parasites.” During his presidency, Milei has worked to curb inflation, which was once the highest in the world. Monthly inflation rates are now at their lowest in four years, with 12-month inflation slowing from 193% to 166%. Reconnecting with financial markets, Argentina is also projected to achieve 5% economic growth in 2025.
However, these policies have come at a cost. Poverty and labor informality have surged, with more than half of Argentines now living in poverty. Milei also devalued the Argentine peso, with change rates surging from 700 pesos to the dollar to 1,000 pesos to the dollar.
Current polls show Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA), leading the Peronist and Kirchnerist opposition with over one-third of voting intentions. Adding in support from his coalition partner, Republican Proposal, the government is approaching half of the electorate’s support. For now, the ruling coalition holds 78 of 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, including 40 for LLA, and 13 of 72 Senate seats, including seven for LLA.
Chile
Chile will hold its general elections on November 16 to elect the president, members of the Chamber of Deputies, and the Senate. Gabriel Boric, president since March 2022, cannot run for reelection due to constitutional limits. For the left-wing coalition he represents, these elections will serve as a referendum on his tenure.
Elected at the head of an alternative left-wing coalition, Boric has struggled to meet the expectations of those who brought him to power. The social protests in Chile from 2019 to 2022 paved the way for the left’s return to power, fueled by widespread discontent over the cost of living.
Boric, however, hoped to spearhead constitutional reform to replace Chile’s current charter, a legacy of General Augusto Pinochet’s regime. The September 2022 referendum on the new constitution ended in a resounding defeat, with 61.87% of voters opposing the reform in a turnout of 85.84%.
This setback, just months into his presidency, halted Boric’s reformist agenda, leaving Chileans frustrated with unmet promises.
The right is expected to come back into power. Current polls show Evelyn Matthei, a former deputy, senator, and labor minister from the right, as the leading candidate. Other prominent contenders include José Antonio Kast, who was a far-right presidential candidate in 2017 and 2021, and former left-wing President Michelle Bachelet, who served from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018.