Uncertain Politics in Latin America
INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST
Politics may be about to get more difficult in Latin America. Elections in recent months have thrown up results which have been surprising, but also may hinder governance. Protests have also been taking place in several countries which pose a challenge to their leaders.
In Ecuador, for example, Guillermo Lasso, a banker, defeated former President Rafael Correa, the leftwing candidate. However, Lasso entered office last month with his party holding fewer seats in the National Assembly than before the election and outnumbered by the opposition.
In Peru, the situation for the left and right is reversed. There, the little-known leftist, Pedro Castillo, defeated Keiko Fujimori by just over 44,000 votes out of a total of 17.6 million – prompting Fujimori to claim fraud, despite providing no evidence. But Castillo will find it difficult to govern. Although his party won more seats than the others, it is still outnumbered in Congress. It is likely that Castillo may well face impeachment before the end of his term of office, joining two other presidents who were similarly removed in the past three years.
