Upcoming Elections
Guatemala General, Second Round – August 11, 2019 (first round was June 16)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
These elections are taking place in a climate of chaos and uncertainty. Incumbent president Jimmy Morales, a comedian and political outsider, ran on an anti-corruption platform in 2015 but since being elected has repeatedly attacked the UN’s anti-corruption body CICIG after it started investigating his family members.
In May 2019, two out of the three leading presidential candidates were disqualified by the Constitutional Court: Thelma Aldana, a former attorney general who jailed hundreds for corruption, and Zury Rios, daughter of the former dictator. The first round did not produce a winner. Left-wing former first lady Sandra Torres faces conservative former prison director Alejandro Giammattei in a runoff on August 18. In the congressional elections, Torres’ left-wing National Unity of Hope (UNE) party appears to have won the most seats, but some face a runoff. Twenty percent of the incumbents are under investigation for corruption, and 92 percent of Guatemalans do not trust their legislature.
Ciara Nugent, Time: “Guatemala Sends More Migrants to the U.S. Border Than Any Other Country. Will Sunday’s Elections Change That?”
Rachel A. Schwartz, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Guatemala will elect a new president on Sunday. Here are three things to know: The United States might not get much from its ‘safe third country’ agreement.”
Michael D McDonald, Bloomberg: “Growing tensions with the U.S. over migration are poised to overshadow Sunday’s elections in Guatemala, where a former first lady and an ex-director of prisons will battle for the country’s top job in a runoff vote.”
Paola Nagovitch, AS/COA: “Runoff polling shows insecurity as the biggest concern among voters in this round, despite a marked decrease in the homicide rate since 2009….Corruption—a key issue during the 2015 election and the June general election— stands as the number three problem voters identified, behind unemployment and tied with high cost of living.”
Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Wall Street Journal: “Guatemala Doesn’t Need Bernie Sanders: Central America has already tried his style of social justice and found it wanting.”
UPDATE August 12, 2019
Edgar Calderón and Henry Morales, AFP: “Conservative Alejandro Giammattei was elected as Guatemala’s president on Sunday, defeating former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off, the central American country’s electoral court said. With the results being updated in real time on the court’s website, the institution’s president Julio Solorzano declared the result ‘already irreversible.'”
Argentina Presidential and Legislative – October 27, 2019 (Primaries August 11, 2019) and Provincial – Throughout the year (next up: Santa Cruz on August 11, 2019)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
On the presidential front: Incumbent Mauricio Macri from the center-right Cambiemos – the first non-Peronist since 1928 to complete a presidential term – faces off against former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who surprised everyone by announcing that she was running for vice president on a ticket headed by Alberto Fernández. The election could go either way. Macri has had difficulty delivering on his economic promises, while Kirchner faces criminal charges related to corruption during her time in office. Provincial elections are also taking place throughout the year. Peronists have done well in the provincial polls held thus far.
Almudena Calatrava and Débora Rey, AP: “Argentines are entering the tightest presidential race since the return of the country’s democracy with conservative President Mauricio Macri facing an opposition ticket including ex-President Cristina Fernández, and primary elections Sunday are expected to provide a hint of who might win October’s vote.”
The Economist: “The primary election has no practical effect at the presidential level, because both Mr Macri and Mr Fernández are unchallenged within their parties. But since all Argentines over the age of 16 are legally obliged to vote, it functions in effect as a dry run of the October election.”
Marina Lammertyn, Reuters: “Factbox: By the numbers: Deciphering Argentina’s presidential primary and election”
Jonah Schrock, Buenos Aires Times: “Candidates set their sights on Córdoba province: One of Argentina’s most politically unique provinces – which was an essential part of President Macri’s victory in 2015 – is once again a key focus of election campaigns.”
Buenos Aires Times: “Argentina’s youngest find themselves drawn into politics: Studies show that people between the ages of 18 and 24 feel little dedication to political parties, but issues are helping them become increasingly involved in politics.”
UPDATE August 12 2019
Reuters: “Argentina’s Macri says primary was ‘bad election’ for his coalition”
Canada General – October 21, 2019 and Manitoba Province – September 10, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a Constitutional Monarchy; a Commonwealth Realm
The election will be competitive, and some polls have shown that the Conservatives would beat incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals if the election were held today. Trudeau is a darling of the global center-left, but his popularity has eroded in the last several months, partly due to controversies such as the SNC-Lavalin affair, in which the justice minister resigned from cabinet after a public conflict with Trudeau. Several provinces also elect provincial parliaments throughout the year. Seats for all 338 ridings (districts/constituencies) in Canada’s House of Commons, the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, are up for election (the Senate is appointed). Usually the leader of the party with the most seats then becomes Prime Minister.
Steve Scherer, Reuters: “China dispute casts shadow on Canadian election, and on Trudeau”
Katie Simpson, CBC: “Liberals promise ‘positive’ politics, but have attack lines at the ready”
Moira Warburton, Reuters: “ An upstart Canadian right-wing political party announced on Friday that “ending official multiculturalism and preserving Canadian values and culture” will be part of its platform for the Canadian federal election in October. The People’s Party of Canada (PPC) was founded in September 2018 by Maxime Bernier after he lost a leadership bid for the Conservative party.”
Bartley Kives and Jacques Marcoux, CBC: “One month before Manitoba election, Liberals and Greens less than halfway to filling candidate slates. Parties dismiss significance of slow pace of nominations, but say they were caught off guard by early election”
Haiti Local and Partial Parliamentary (one third of the Senate and the entire lower house) – Due October 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Haiti is in a political crisis. Political chaos related to allegations of fraud followed Haiti’s presidential 2015 election. A commission found that the election had indeed been fraudulent, and ordered a re-reun, which had only 18 percent turnout. President Moïse Jovenel was elected with 56 percent of ballots cast. The opposition alleged fraud once again, but an election tribunal conducted an investigation and certified the results. Violent protesters have demanded the president’s ouster. The 2015-2016 parliamentary elections were also marred by significant fraud. The country is currently without a government as opposition lawmakers have blocked multiple attempts to ratify a new prime minister.
Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald: “Haiti adrift as president faces impeachment hearing, prime minister in Twitter scandal”
CMC: “Opposition political parties say they will resume anti-government protests next week to force President Jovenel Moise out of office, even as an opposition inspired attempt to impeach the head of state earlier this week failed to materialise.”
Trinidad and Tobago – November 2019 (due)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
The two major parties are Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s People’s National Movement (PNM), which tends to be supported by Afro-Trinidadians and returned to power after winning the 2015 elections. The People’s Partnership (PP) coalition, whose main member the United National Congress (UNC) is mostly supported by Indo-Trinidadians, governed from 2010 to 2015, with leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar serving as Trinidad and Tobago’s first female prime minister. She currently serves as the country’s first female leader of the opposition. The two major parties fall largely, but not exclusively, along ethnic lines. Roughly 40 percent of citizens are of Indian descent and 40 percent are of African descent, with the remaining 20 percent encompassing a broad spectrum of ethnic heritages. However, citizens have a strong sense of national pride and national identity as Trinidadians and Tobagonians. The next parliamentary elections are due by September 2020, but could happen earlier.
Ryan-Hamilton Davis, Newsday: “Marlene McDonald, Public Administration Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has been arrested along with her husband, Michael Carew, as a result of a corruption probe in Trinidad. McDonald is the first sitting cabinet minister in T&T to be arrested by police, according to a Newsday report.
Peru Presidential and Legislative – April 2021 (President wants to move them to April 19, 2020)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Simeon Tegel, Americas Quarterly: “Peru’s President Wants Voters to Clean House. Will His Gamble Pay Off?”
Nicaragua General – Due November 2021
Freedom House Rating: Not Free (downgraded from Partly Free in 2019) – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Nicaragua’s crisis continues. In April 2018, protests erupted, and the subsequent brutal crackdown has led to over 300 deaths and 500 arrests, and thousands have left the country. President Daniel Ortega is systematically working to silence all voices of dissent, including from his former Sandinista colleagues. Some have called for Magnitsky-style sanctions on Nicaragua’s leaders. Ortega has rejected calls for early elections. If he lasts until the end of his term, he will have ruled Nicaragua for 20 years.
Gabriela Selser, AP: “The Vatican’s diplomatic envoy to Nicaragua said last week he has received a letter from President Daniel Ortega’s government apparently saying talks with the opposition on resolving the country’s more than year-old political standoff are over.”
Venezuela – Ongoing Crisis
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Federal Presidential Republic
Venezuela is currently in a political crisis following disputed presidential elections in May 2018. Incumbent Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s protege, was declared the winner, but the elections were widely denounced as illegitimate and the opposition mostly boycotted the polls. Because Venezuela’s constitution stipulates that the leader of the National Assembly (Venezuela’s only institution with a modicum of democratic legitimacy) becomes interim president if the office is vacant, many of the world’s free democracies recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president until the country holds new elections. Maduro continues to cling to power and his forces are violently cracking down on the opposition. The regime has deployed death squads. However, the opposition perseveres.
The country is also in a humanitarian crisis. The capital, Caracas, is one of the most violent cities in the world. Hyperinflation has resulted in 90 percent of Venezuelans being unable to afford sufficient food, and as many as 3.4 million people (more than 10 percent of the population) have fled since 2015.
Ryan Dube, Wall Street Journal: “Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pulled his government out of negotiations with the opposition aimed at resolving the country’s political crisis after the Trump administration imposed sweeping sanctions against the authoritarian regime.”
Joshua Goodman and Scott Smith, AP: “…[The] White House froze all Venezuelan government assets in the U.S. late Monday [August 5], putting the country on a short list of U.S. adversaries, including Cuba, North Korea and Iran that have been targeted by such aggressive financial measures.”
Alex Vasquez, Fabiola Zerpa and Ethan Bronner, Bloomberg: “As Maduro and Guaido Trade Threats, Their Underlings Seek a Deal”
Americas This Week – August 10, 2019
Leave a Comment
Last Updated: September 1, 2019 by 21votes
August 10, 2019
Each day, 21votes gathers election news, analysis, and opinions from a different region of the world. We explore the Americas on Saturdays. Click the map pins.
Guatemala General, Second Round – August 11, 2019 (first round was June 16)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
These elections are taking place in a climate of chaos and uncertainty. Incumbent president Jimmy Morales, a comedian and political outsider, ran on an anti-corruption platform in 2015 but since being elected has repeatedly attacked the UN’s anti-corruption body CICIG after it started investigating his family members.
In May 2019, two out of the three leading presidential candidates were disqualified by the Constitutional Court: Thelma Aldana, a former attorney general who jailed hundreds for corruption, and Zury Rios, daughter of the former dictator. The first round did not produce a winner. Left-wing former first lady Sandra Torres faces conservative former prison director Alejandro Giammattei in a runoff on August 18. In the congressional elections, Torres’ left-wing National Unity of Hope (UNE) party appears to have won the most seats, but some face a runoff. Twenty percent of the incumbents are under investigation for corruption, and 92 percent of Guatemalans do not trust their legislature.
Canada General – October 21, 2019 and Manitoba Province - September 10, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a Constitutional Monarchy; a Commonwealth Realm
The election will be competitive, and some polls have shown that the Conservatives would beat incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals if the election were held today. Trudeau is a darling of the global center-left, but his popularity has eroded in the last several months, partly due to controversies such as the SNC-Lavalin affair, in which the justice minister resigned from cabinet after a public conflict with Trudeau. Several provinces also elect provincial parliaments throughout the year. Seats for all 338 ridings (districts/constituencies) in Canada’s House of Commons, the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, are up for election (the Senate is appointed). Usually the leader of the party with the most seats then becomes Prime Minister.
Argentina Presidential and Legislative – October 27, 2019 (Primaries August 11, 2019) and Provincial – Throughout the year (next up: Santa Cruz on August 11, 2019)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
On the presidential front: Incumbent Mauricio Macri from the center-right Cambiemos – the first non-Peronist since 1928 to complete a presidential term – faces off against former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who surprised everyone by announcing that she was running for vice president on a ticket headed by Alberto Fernández. The election could go either way. Macri has had difficulty delivering on his economic promises, while Kirchner faces criminal charges related to corruption during her time in office. Provincial elections are also taking place throughout the year. Peronists have done well in the provincial polls held thus far.
Haiti Local and Partial Parliamentary (one third of the Senate and the entire lower house) – Due October 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Haiti is in a political crisis. Political chaos related to allegations of fraud followed Haiti’s presidential 2015 election. A commission found that the election had indeed been fraudulent, and ordered a re-reun, which had only 18 percent turnout. President Moïse Jovenel was elected with 56 percent of ballots cast. The opposition alleged fraud once again, but an election tribunal conducted an investigation and certified the results. Violent protesters have demanded the president’s ouster. The 2015-2016 parliamentary elections were also marred by significant fraud. The country is currently without a government as opposition lawmakers have blocked multiple attempts to ratify a new prime minister.
Trinidad and Tobago – November 2019 (due)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
The two major parties are Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s People’s National Movement (PNM), which tends to be supported by Afro-Trinidadians and returned to power after winning the 2015 elections. The People’s Partnership (PP) coalition, whose main member the United National Congress (UNC) is mostly supported by Indo-Trinidadians, governed from 2010 to 2015, with leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar serving as Trinidad and Tobago’s first female prime minister. She currently serves as the country’s first female leader of the opposition. The two major parties fall largely, but not exclusively, along ethnic lines. Roughly 40 percent of citizens are of Indian descent and 40 percent are of African descent, with the remaining 20 percent encompassing a broad spectrum of ethnic heritages. However, citizens have a strong sense of national pride and national identity as Trinidadians and Tobagonians. The next parliamentary elections are due by September 2020, but could happen earlier.
Peru Presidential and Legislative – April 2021 (President wants to move them to April 19, 2020)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Nicaragua General – Due November 2021
Freedom House Rating: Not Free (downgraded from Partly Free in 2019) – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Nicaragua’s crisis continues. In April 2018, protests erupted, and the subsequent brutal crackdown has led to over 300 deaths and 500 arrests, and thousands have left the country. President Daniel Ortega is systematically working to silence all voices of dissent, including from his former Sandinista colleagues. Some have called for Magnitsky-style sanctions on Nicaragua’s leaders. Ortega has rejected calls for early elections. If he lasts until the end of his term, he will have ruled Nicaragua for 20 years.
Venezuela – Ongoing Crisis
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Federal Presidential Republic
Venezuela is currently in a political crisis following disputed presidential elections in May 2018. Incumbent Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s protege, was declared the winner, but the elections were widely denounced as illegitimate and the opposition mostly boycotted the polls. Because Venezuela’s constitution stipulates that the leader of the National Assembly (Venezuela’s only institution with a modicum of democratic legitimacy) becomes interim president if the office is vacant, many of the world’s free democracies recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president until the country holds new elections. Maduro continues to cling to power and his forces are violently cracking down on the opposition. The regime has deployed death squads. However, the opposition perseveres.
The country is also in a humanitarian crisis. The capital, Caracas, is one of the most violent cities in the world. Hyperinflation has resulted in 90 percent of Venezuelans being unable to afford sufficient food, and as many as 3.4 million people (more than 10 percent of the population) have fled since 2015.
Upcoming Elections
Guatemala General, Second Round – August 11, 2019 (first round was June 16)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
These elections are taking place in a climate of chaos and uncertainty. Incumbent president Jimmy Morales, a comedian and political outsider, ran on an anti-corruption platform in 2015 but since being elected has repeatedly attacked the UN’s anti-corruption body CICIG after it started investigating his family members.
In May 2019, two out of the three leading presidential candidates were disqualified by the Constitutional Court: Thelma Aldana, a former attorney general who jailed hundreds for corruption, and Zury Rios, daughter of the former dictator. The first round did not produce a winner. Left-wing former first lady Sandra Torres faces conservative former prison director Alejandro Giammattei in a runoff on August 18. In the congressional elections, Torres’ left-wing National Unity of Hope (UNE) party appears to have won the most seats, but some face a runoff. Twenty percent of the incumbents are under investigation for corruption, and 92 percent of Guatemalans do not trust their legislature.
Ciara Nugent, Time: “Guatemala Sends More Migrants to the U.S. Border Than Any Other Country. Will Sunday’s Elections Change That?”
Rachel A. Schwartz, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Guatemala will elect a new president on Sunday. Here are three things to know: The United States might not get much from its ‘safe third country’ agreement.”
Michael D McDonald, Bloomberg: “Growing tensions with the U.S. over migration are poised to overshadow Sunday’s elections in Guatemala, where a former first lady and an ex-director of prisons will battle for the country’s top job in a runoff vote.”
Paola Nagovitch, AS/COA: “Runoff polling shows insecurity as the biggest concern among voters in this round, despite a marked decrease in the homicide rate since 2009….Corruption—a key issue during the 2015 election and the June general election— stands as the number three problem voters identified, behind unemployment and tied with high cost of living.”
Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Wall Street Journal: “Guatemala Doesn’t Need Bernie Sanders: Central America has already tried his style of social justice and found it wanting.”
UPDATE August 12, 2019
Edgar Calderón and Henry Morales, AFP: “Conservative Alejandro Giammattei was elected as Guatemala’s president on Sunday, defeating former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off, the central American country’s electoral court said. With the results being updated in real time on the court’s website, the institution’s president Julio Solorzano declared the result ‘already irreversible.'”
Argentina Presidential and Legislative – October 27, 2019 (Primaries August 11, 2019) and Provincial – Throughout the year (next up: Santa Cruz on August 11, 2019)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
On the presidential front: Incumbent Mauricio Macri from the center-right Cambiemos – the first non-Peronist since 1928 to complete a presidential term – faces off against former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who surprised everyone by announcing that she was running for vice president on a ticket headed by Alberto Fernández. The election could go either way. Macri has had difficulty delivering on his economic promises, while Kirchner faces criminal charges related to corruption during her time in office. Provincial elections are also taking place throughout the year. Peronists have done well in the provincial polls held thus far.
Almudena Calatrava and Débora Rey, AP: “Argentines are entering the tightest presidential race since the return of the country’s democracy with conservative President Mauricio Macri facing an opposition ticket including ex-President Cristina Fernández, and primary elections Sunday are expected to provide a hint of who might win October’s vote.”
The Economist: “The primary election has no practical effect at the presidential level, because both Mr Macri and Mr Fernández are unchallenged within their parties. But since all Argentines over the age of 16 are legally obliged to vote, it functions in effect as a dry run of the October election.”
Marina Lammertyn, Reuters: “Factbox: By the numbers: Deciphering Argentina’s presidential primary and election”
Jonah Schrock, Buenos Aires Times: “Candidates set their sights on Córdoba province: One of Argentina’s most politically unique provinces – which was an essential part of President Macri’s victory in 2015 – is once again a key focus of election campaigns.”
Buenos Aires Times: “Argentina’s youngest find themselves drawn into politics: Studies show that people between the ages of 18 and 24 feel little dedication to political parties, but issues are helping them become increasingly involved in politics.”
UPDATE August 12 2019
Reuters: “Argentina’s Macri says primary was ‘bad election’ for his coalition”
Canada General – October 21, 2019 and Manitoba Province – September 10, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a Constitutional Monarchy; a Commonwealth Realm
The election will be competitive, and some polls have shown that the Conservatives would beat incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals if the election were held today. Trudeau is a darling of the global center-left, but his popularity has eroded in the last several months, partly due to controversies such as the SNC-Lavalin affair, in which the justice minister resigned from cabinet after a public conflict with Trudeau. Several provinces also elect provincial parliaments throughout the year. Seats for all 338 ridings (districts/constituencies) in Canada’s House of Commons, the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, are up for election (the Senate is appointed). Usually the leader of the party with the most seats then becomes Prime Minister.
Steve Scherer, Reuters: “China dispute casts shadow on Canadian election, and on Trudeau”
Katie Simpson, CBC: “Liberals promise ‘positive’ politics, but have attack lines at the ready”
Moira Warburton, Reuters: “ An upstart Canadian right-wing political party announced on Friday that “ending official multiculturalism and preserving Canadian values and culture” will be part of its platform for the Canadian federal election in October. The People’s Party of Canada (PPC) was founded in September 2018 by Maxime Bernier after he lost a leadership bid for the Conservative party.”
Bartley Kives and Jacques Marcoux, CBC: “One month before Manitoba election, Liberals and Greens less than halfway to filling candidate slates. Parties dismiss significance of slow pace of nominations, but say they were caught off guard by early election”
Haiti Local and Partial Parliamentary (one third of the Senate and the entire lower house) – Due October 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Haiti is in a political crisis. Political chaos related to allegations of fraud followed Haiti’s presidential 2015 election. A commission found that the election had indeed been fraudulent, and ordered a re-reun, which had only 18 percent turnout. President Moïse Jovenel was elected with 56 percent of ballots cast. The opposition alleged fraud once again, but an election tribunal conducted an investigation and certified the results. Violent protesters have demanded the president’s ouster. The 2015-2016 parliamentary elections were also marred by significant fraud. The country is currently without a government as opposition lawmakers have blocked multiple attempts to ratify a new prime minister.
Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald: “Haiti adrift as president faces impeachment hearing, prime minister in Twitter scandal”
CMC: “Opposition political parties say they will resume anti-government protests next week to force President Jovenel Moise out of office, even as an opposition inspired attempt to impeach the head of state earlier this week failed to materialise.”
Trinidad and Tobago – November 2019 (due)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
The two major parties are Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s People’s National Movement (PNM), which tends to be supported by Afro-Trinidadians and returned to power after winning the 2015 elections. The People’s Partnership (PP) coalition, whose main member the United National Congress (UNC) is mostly supported by Indo-Trinidadians, governed from 2010 to 2015, with leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar serving as Trinidad and Tobago’s first female prime minister. She currently serves as the country’s first female leader of the opposition. The two major parties fall largely, but not exclusively, along ethnic lines. Roughly 40 percent of citizens are of Indian descent and 40 percent are of African descent, with the remaining 20 percent encompassing a broad spectrum of ethnic heritages. However, citizens have a strong sense of national pride and national identity as Trinidadians and Tobagonians. The next parliamentary elections are due by September 2020, but could happen earlier.
Ryan-Hamilton Davis, Newsday: “Marlene McDonald, Public Administration Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has been arrested along with her husband, Michael Carew, as a result of a corruption probe in Trinidad. McDonald is the first sitting cabinet minister in T&T to be arrested by police, according to a Newsday report.
Peru Presidential and Legislative – April 2021 (President wants to move them to April 19, 2020)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Simeon Tegel, Americas Quarterly: “Peru’s President Wants Voters to Clean House. Will His Gamble Pay Off?”
Nicaragua General – Due November 2021
Freedom House Rating: Not Free (downgraded from Partly Free in 2019) – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Nicaragua’s crisis continues. In April 2018, protests erupted, and the subsequent brutal crackdown has led to over 300 deaths and 500 arrests, and thousands have left the country. President Daniel Ortega is systematically working to silence all voices of dissent, including from his former Sandinista colleagues. Some have called for Magnitsky-style sanctions on Nicaragua’s leaders. Ortega has rejected calls for early elections. If he lasts until the end of his term, he will have ruled Nicaragua for 20 years.
Gabriela Selser, AP: “The Vatican’s diplomatic envoy to Nicaragua said last week he has received a letter from President Daniel Ortega’s government apparently saying talks with the opposition on resolving the country’s more than year-old political standoff are over.”
Venezuela – Ongoing Crisis
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Federal Presidential Republic
Venezuela is currently in a political crisis following disputed presidential elections in May 2018. Incumbent Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s protege, was declared the winner, but the elections were widely denounced as illegitimate and the opposition mostly boycotted the polls. Because Venezuela’s constitution stipulates that the leader of the National Assembly (Venezuela’s only institution with a modicum of democratic legitimacy) becomes interim president if the office is vacant, many of the world’s free democracies recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president until the country holds new elections. Maduro continues to cling to power and his forces are violently cracking down on the opposition. The regime has deployed death squads. However, the opposition perseveres.
The country is also in a humanitarian crisis. The capital, Caracas, is one of the most violent cities in the world. Hyperinflation has resulted in 90 percent of Venezuelans being unable to afford sufficient food, and as many as 3.4 million people (more than 10 percent of the population) have fled since 2015.
Ryan Dube, Wall Street Journal: “Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pulled his government out of negotiations with the opposition aimed at resolving the country’s political crisis after the Trump administration imposed sweeping sanctions against the authoritarian regime.”
Joshua Goodman and Scott Smith, AP: “…[The] White House froze all Venezuelan government assets in the U.S. late Monday [August 5], putting the country on a short list of U.S. adversaries, including Cuba, North Korea and Iran that have been targeted by such aggressive financial measures.”
Alex Vasquez, Fabiola Zerpa and Ethan Bronner, Bloomberg: “As Maduro and Guaido Trade Threats, Their Underlings Seek a Deal”
The Year Ahead: Americas
Canada provincial and territorial (throughout the year); Belize village councils (June 23-July 28); Guatemala general second round (August 18); Bolivia presidential and legislative (October); Haiti parliamentary (October); Bolivia presidential and legislative (October 20); Canada general (on or before October 21 – exact date not set yet); Argentina presidential and legislative (October 27); Uruguay presidential and legislative (October 27); Colombia local (October 27); Guyana snap parliamentary (November); Trinidad and Tobago local (November) Dominica legislative (December); St. Kitts and Nevis legislative (February)
Argentines mourning the death of former president Néstor Kirchner – husband of former president and current candidate for vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – in 2010. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Banfield (CC BY-SA 2.5 AR)
21votes does not necessarily endorse all of the views in all of the linked articles or publications. More on our approach here.
Comments
Share this:
Related
Category: This Week Tags: Argentina, Canada, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela