Home page >> Latin America Intro page >> Latin America Presidential chronology Last updated:
Top ~ South America ~ South America (latter) ~ Central America ~ Central America (latter)
NOTE: Political leanings of each president are based on party affiliation and judgment as to policy direction. They are preliminary in some cases, and should not be considered definitive. See the color key at the bottom of the table. For each year, the person holding the office as of June 1 is shown. Normal month/day of inauguration is shown below each country name. Click on the flags to go to the respective countries' background information pages.
| Year |  Argentina |
 Bolivia |
 Brazil |
 Chile |
 Colombia |
 Ecuador |
 Paraguay |
 Peru |
 Uruguay |
 Venezuela |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Videla | Garcia Meza | Figuereido | Pinochet | Turbay | Roldos | Stroessner | Morales Bermudez || Belaunde | Alvarez | Herrera |
| 1981 | Videla, Viola | Garcia Meza, 3 others |
Figuereido | Pinochet | Turbay | Hurtado | Stroessner | Belaunde | Alvarez | Herrera |
| 1982 | Viola, Galtieri, Bignone | 2 others || Siles | Figuereido | Pinochet | Betancur | Hurtado | Stroessner | Belaunde | Alvarez | Herrera |
| 1983 | Bignone || Alfonsin |
Siles | Figuereido | Pinochet | Betancur | Hurtado | Stroessner | Belaunde | Alvarez | Herrera |
| 1984 | Alfonsin | Siles | Figuereido | Pinochet | Betancur | Febres Cordero | Stroessner | Belaunde | Alvarez | Lusinchi |
| 1985 | Alfonsin | Siles // Paz Estenssoro | Figuereido || Sarney |
Pinochet | Betancur | Febres Cordero | Stroessner | Belaunde // Garcia |
Sanguinetti | Lusinchi |
| 1986 | Alfonsin | Paz Estenssoro | Sarney | Pinochet | Barco | Febres Cordero | Stroessner | Garcia | Sanguinetti | Lusinchi |
| 1987 | Alfonsin | Paz Estenssoro | Sarney | Pinochet | Barco | Febres Cordero | Stroessner | Garcia | Sanguinetti | Lusinchi |
| 1988 | Alfonsin | Paz Estenssoro | Sarney | Pinochet | Barco | Borja | Stroessner | Garcia | Sanguinetti | Lusinchi |
| 1989 | Alfonsin // Menem |
Paz Estenssoro // Paz Zamora | Sarney | Pinochet | Barco | Borja | Rodriguez | Garcia | Sanguinetti | Perez |
| 1990 | Menem | Paz Zamora | Sarney // Collor de Mello |
Pinochet || Aylwin | Gaviria | Borja | Rodriguez | Garcia // Fujimori |
Lacalle | Perez |
| 1991 | Menem | Paz Zamora | Collor de Mello | Aylwin | Gaviria | Borja | Rodriguez | Fujimori | Lacalle | Perez |
| 1992 | Menem | Paz Zamora | Collor de Mello \\ Franco |
Aylwin | Gaviria | Duran Ballen | Rodriguez | Fujimori | Lacalle | Perez |
| 1993 | Menem | Paz Zamora // Sanch. de Loz. | Franco | Aylwin | Gaviria | Duran Ballen | Wasmosy | Fujimori | Lacalle | Perez |
| 1994 | Menem | Sanchez de Lozada | Franco | Aylwin // Frei | Samper | Duran Ballen | Wasmosy | Fujimori | Lacalle | Caldera |
| 1995 | Menem | Sanchez de Lozada | // Cardoso | Frei | Samper | Duran Ballen | Wasmosy | Fujimori // | Sanguinetti | Caldera |
| 1996 | Menem | Sanchez de Lozada | Cardoso | Frei | Samper | Bucaram | Wasmosy | Fujimori | Sanguinetti | Caldera |
| 1997 | Menem | Sanchez de Lozada // Banzer | Cardoso | Frei | Samper | Mahuad | Wasmosy | Fujimori | Sanguinetti | Caldera |
| 1998 | Menem | Banzer | Cardoso | Frei | Pastrana | Mahuad | Cubas | Fujimori | Sanguinetti | Caldera |
| 1999 | Menem // de la Rua |
Banzer | Cardoso | Frei | Pastrana | Mahuad | Gonzalez Macchi | Fujimori | Sanguinetti | Caldera // Chavez (Feb.) |
| 2000 | de la Rua | Banzer | Cardoso | Frei // Lagos | Pastrana | #C# Noboa | Gonzalez Macchi | Fujimori \\ Paniagua |
Batlle | Chavez |
| 2001 | de la Rua \\ Saa |
Banzer \ Quiroga |
Cardoso | Lagos | Pastrana | Noboa | Gonzalez Macchi | Paniagua // Toledo |
Batlle | Chavez |
| 2002 | \\ Duhalde | Quiroga // Sanchez de Losada | Cardoso | Lagos | Pastrana // Uribe | Noboa | Gonzalez Macchi | Toledo | Batlle | Chavez |
| 2003 | Duhalde // Kirchner |
Sanchez de Losada | // da Silva | Lagos | Uribe | Gutierrez | Gonzalez Macchi | Toledo | Batlle | Chavez |
| 2004 | Kirchner | Mesa | da Silva | Lagos | Uribe | Gutierrez | Duarte | Toledo | Batlle | Chavez |
| 2005 | Kirchner | Rodriguez | da Silva | Lagos | Uribe | Palacio | Duarte | Toledo | Vazquez | Chavez |
| 2006 | Kirchner | Morales | da Silva | Lagos // Bachelet | Uribe // | Palacio | Duarte | Toledo // Garcia (July) |
Vazquez | Chavez |
| 2007 | Kirchner // Fern. K. (Dec.) |
Morales | // da Silva | Bachelet | Uribe | Correa | Duarte | Garcia | Vazquez | Chavez |
| 2008 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | da Silva | Bachelet | Uribe | Correa | Duarte | Garcia | Vazquez | Chavez |
| 2009 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | da Silva | Bachelet | Uribe | Correa | Lugo | Garcia | Vazquez | Chavez |
| 2010 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | da Silva | Bachelet // Piñera |
Uribe // Santos | Correa | Lugo | Garcia | Vazquez // Mujica |
Chavez |
| 2011 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | // Rousseff | Piñera | Santos | Correa | Lugo | Garcia // Humala |
Mujica | Chavez |
| 2012 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | Rousseff | Piñera | Santos | Correa | Lugo // Franco Gomez |
Humala | Mujica | Chavez |
| 2013 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | Rousseff | Piñera | Santos | Correa | Franco Gomez // H. Cartes |
Humala | Mujica | Chavez #D# Maduro |
| 2014 | C. Fernandez de Kirchner | Morales | Rousseff | Piñera // Bachelet | Santos // | Correa | H. Cartes | Humala | Mujica | Nicolas Maduro |
| 2015 | Fernandez de Kirchner // Macri | Morales | // Rousseff | Bachelet | Santos | Correa | H. Cartes | Humala | Mujica // Vazquez |
Maduro |
| 2016 | Macri | Morales | Rousseff \\ Temer |
Bachelet | Santos | Correa | H. Cartes | Humala // Kuczynski |
Vazquez | Maduro |
| 2017 | Macri | Morales | Temer | Bachelet | Santos | Correa // Moreno |
H. Cartes | Kuczynski | Vazquez | Maduro |
| 2018 | Macri | Morales | Temer | Bachelet // Piñera |
Santos // Duque |
Moreno | H. Cartes // Abdo Benitez |
Kuczynski \\ Vizcarra |
Vazquez | Maduro // |
| 2019 | Macri // A. Fernandez |
Morales #R# J. Añez |
Jair Bolsonaro | Piñera | Duque | Moreno | M. Abdo Benitez | Vizcarra | Vazquez | Maduro |
| 2020 | (Alberto) Fernandez | J. Añez // Arce |
Jair Bolsonaro | Piñera | Duque | Moreno | M. Abdo Benitez | Vizcarra \\ Merino / Sagasti |
Vazquez // Lacalle Pou |
Maduro |
| 2021 | Fernandez | Luis A. Arce | Jair Bolsonaro | Piñera | Duque | Moreno // Lasso |
M. Abdo Benitez | Sagasti // Castillo |
(Luis A.) Lacalle Pou | Maduro |
| 2022 | Fernandez | Luis A. Arce | Jair Bolsonaro | Piñera // Gabriel Boric |
Duque // Petro |
Guillermo Lasso | M. Abdo Benitez | Jose Pedro Castillo \\ | Lacalle Pou | Maduro |
| 2023 | Fernandez // | Luis A. Arce | "Lula" da Silva | Gabriel Boric | Gustavo Petro | Guillermo Lasso // | M. Abdo Benitez // Peña | Dina Boluarte | Lacalle Pou | Maduro |
| 2024 | Javier Milei | Luis A. Arce | "Lula" da Silva | Gabriel Boric | Gustavo Petro | Daniel Noboa | Santiago Peña | Dina Boluarte | Lacalle Pou | Maduro // |
| Year (month of election & inaug.) |
Argentina 5 year term (Oct. / Nov.) |
Bolivia 4 year term (Oct. / Nov.) |
Brazil 4 year term (Oct. / Jan.) |
Chile 4 year term (Nov. / Mar.) |
Colombia 4 year term (May / Aug.) |
Ecuador 4 year term (Feb. / May) |
Paraguay 5 year term (Apr. / Aug.) |
Peru 5 year term (May / July) |
Uruguay 5 year term (Oct. / Mar.) |
Venezuela 6 year term (May / June) |
| KEY | military | left wing | moderate left | centrist, undefined, or changed | authoritarian populist |
moderate right | right wing | #C# : coup, #R# : revolution #D# : leader death #A# : assass. |
// : normal democ. succession (incl. reelection) |
|| : transition to democracy \\ : removal via impeachment |
Top ~ South America ~ South America (latter) ~ Central America ~ Central America (latter)
NOTE: Political leanings of each president are based on party affiliation and judgment as to policy direction. They are preliminary in some cases, and should not be considered definitive. See the color key at the bottom of the table. For each year, the person holding the office as of June 1 is shown. Normal month/day of inauguration is shown below each country name. Click on the flags to go to the respective countries' background information pages.
| Year |  Costa Rica |
 Cuba |
 Dominican Rep. |
 El Salvador |
 Guatemala |
 Haiti |
 Honduras |
 Mexico |
 Nicaragua |
 Panama |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Carazo | F. Castro | Guzman | Duarte | Lucas Garcia | Duvalier, J-C | Paz Garcia | Lopez Portillo | Ortega | Torrijos, O |
| 1981 | Carazo | F. Castro | Guzman | Duarte | Lucas Garcia | Duvalier, J-C | Paz Garcia | Lopez Portillo | Ortega | Torrijos, O |
| 1982 | Monge | F. Castro | Blanco | Magaña | #C# Rios Montt | Duvalier, J-C | Suazo Cordova | de la Madrid | Ortega | Torrijos, O |
| 1983 | Monge | F. Castro | Blanco | Magaña | #C# Mejia Victores | Duvalier, J-C | Suazo Cordova | de la Madrid | Ortega | Torrijos, O |
| 1984 | Monge | F. Castro | Blanco | Duarte | Mejia Victores | Duvalier, J-C | Suazo Cordova | de la Madrid | Ortega | Noriega |
| 1985 | Monge | F. Castro | Blanco | Duarte | Mejia Victores | Duvalier, J-C | Suazo Cordova | de la Madrid | Ortega | Noriega |
| 1986 | Arias | F. Castro | Balaguer | Duarte | Cerezo | Namphy | Azcona | de la Madrid | Ortega | Noriega |
| 1987 | Arias | F. Castro | Balaguer | Duarte | Cerezo | Namphy | Azcona | de la Madrid | Ortega | Noriega |
| 1988 | Arias | F. Castro | Balaguer | Cristiani | Cerezo | Namphy ;; Avril | Azcona | Salinas | Ortega | Noriega |
| 1989 | Arias | F. Castro | Balaguer | Cristiani | Cerezo | (Prosper) Avril | Azcona | Salinas | Ortega | Noriega # U.S. invasion # |
| 1990 | Calderon | F. Castro | Balaguer | Cristiani | Cerezo | Avril ;; E. Pascal-Trouillot |
Callejas | Salinas | Chamorro | Endara |
| 1991 | Calderon | F. Castro | Balaguer | Cristiani | Serrano | E. P.-T. || Aristide #C# Cedras |
Callejas | Salinas | Chamorro | Endara |
| 1992 | Calderon | F. Castro | Balaguer | Cristiani | Serrano | Cedras | Callejas | Salinas | Chamorro | Endara |
| 1993 | Calderon | F. Castro | Balaguer | Cristiani | Serrano | Cedras || Aristide |
Callejas | Salinas | Chamorro | Endara |
| 1994 | Figueres | F. Castro | Balaguer | Calderon Sol | De Leon Carpio | Aristide | Reina | Zedillo | Chamorro | Endara // Balladares |
| 1995 | Figueres | F. Castro | Balaguer | Calderon Sol | De Leon Carpio | Aristide | Reina | Zedillo | Chamorro | Balladares |
| 1996 | Figueres | F. Castro | Balaguer | Calderon Sol | Arzu | Aristide // Preval |
Reina | Zedillo | Aleman | Balladares |
| 1997 | Figueres | F. Castro | Balaguer | Calderon Sol | Arzu | Rene Preval | Reina | Zedillo | Aleman | Balladares |
| 1998 | Rodriguez | F. Castro | Fernandez | Calderon Sol | Arzu | Preval | C. Flores | Zedillo | Aleman | Balladares |
| 1999 | Rodriguez | F. Castro | Fernandez | Calderon Sol // Flores |
Arzu | Preval | C. Flores | Zedillo | Aleman | Balladares // Moscoso |
| 2000 | Rodriguez | F. Castro | Fernandez | Flores | Portillo | Preval | C. Flores | Fox | Aleman | Mireya Moscoso |
| 2001 | Rodriguez | F. Castro | Mejia | Flores | Portillo | Preval // Aristide |
C. Flores | Fox | Aleman | Moscoso |
| 2002 | Pacheco | F. Castro | Mejia | Flores | Portillo | Aristide | Maduro | Fox | Bolaños | Moscoso |
| 2003 | Pacheco | F. Castro | Mejia | Flores | Portillo | Aristide | Maduro | Fox | Bolaños | Moscoso |
| 2004 | Pacheco | F. Castro | Mejia // Fernandez |
Flores // Saca | Berger | Aristide #C# Alexandre |
Maduro | Fox | Bolaños | Moscoso // Torrijos |
| 2005 | Pacheco | F. Castro | Fernandez | Saca | Berger | Alexandre | Maduro | Fox | Bolaños | (Martin) Torrijos |
| 2006 | Arias | F. Castro | Fernandez | Saca | Berger | (Rene) Preval | Zelaya | Fox // Calderon (Dec.) |
Bolaños | (Martin) Torrijos |
| 2007 | Arias | F. Castro | Fernandez | Saca | Berger | Preval | Zelaya | Calderon | Ortega | (Martin) Torrijos |
| 2008 | Arias | Raul Castro | Fernandez // | Saca | Colom | Preval | Zelaya | Calderon | Ortega | (Martin) Torrijos |
| 2009 | Arias | R. Castro | Fernandez | Saca // Funes | Colom | Preval | Zelaya #C# \\ | Calderon | Ortega | Torrijos // Martinelli |
| 2010 | Arias // Chinchilla |
R. Castro | Fernandez | Funes | Colom | Preval | Lobo | Calderon | Ortega | Martinelli |
| 2011 | Chinchilla | R. Castro | Fernandez | Funes | Colom | Preval // Martelly |
Lobo | Calderon | Ortega | Martinelli |
| 2012 | Chinchilla | R. Castro | Fernandez // Medina |
Funes | Perez Molina | (Michel) Martelly | Lobo | Calderon // Peña Nieto (Dec.) |
Ortega | Martinelli |
| 2013 | Chinchilla | R. Castro | Medina | Funes | Perez Molina | Martelly | Lobo | Peña Nieto | Ortega | Martinelli |
| 2014 | Chinchilla // Solis |
R. Castro | Medina | Funes // Sanchez Ceren |
Perez Molina | Martelly | // Hernandez | Peña Nieto | Ortega | Martinelli // Varela |
| 2015 | Solis | R. Castro | Medina | Sanchez Ceren | Perez Molina #C# Aguirre | Martelly | Hernandez | Peña Nieto | Ortega | Varela |
| 2016 | Solis | R. Castro | Medina // | Sanchez Ceren | // Jimmy Morales | Martelly // / Privert |
Hernandez | Peña Nieto | // Ortega | Varela |
| 2017 | Solis | R. Castro | Medina | Sanchez Ceren | Jimmy Morales | Privert // Moise | Hernandez | Peña Nieto | Ortega | Varela |
| 2018 | Solis // Alvarado | R. Castro ;; Diaz-Canel |
Medina | Sanchez Ceren | Jimmy Morales | Moise | // Hernandez | Peña Nieto // Lopez Obrador |
Ortega | Varela |
| 2019 | (Fabricio) Alvarado | (Miguel) Diaz-Canel | Medina | Sanchez Ceren // Bukele |
Jimmy Morales | (Jovenal) Moise | Hernandez | (A. M.) Lopez Obrador | Ortega | Varela // Cortizo |
| 2020 | Alvarado | Diaz-Canel | Medina // Abinader |
(Nayib A.) Bukele | // (Alejandro) Giammattei | Moise | Hernandez | Lopez Obrador | Ortega | (Laurentino) Cortizo |
| 2021 | Alvarado | Diaz-Canel | (Luis R.) Abinader | Bukele | Giammattei | Moise #A# (vacant) | Hernandez | Lopez Obrador | // Ortega | Cortizo |
| 2022 | Alvarado // Chaves |
Diaz-Canel | Abinader | Bukele | Giammattei | (P.M. Ariel Henry) | // (Xiomara) Castro | Lopez Obrador | Ortega | Cortizo |
| 2023 | (Rodrigo) Chaves | Diaz-Canel | Abinader | Bukele | Giammattei | (P.M. Ariel Henry) | Castro | Lopez Obrador | Ortega | Cortizo |
| 2024 | (Rodrigo) Chaves | Diaz-Canel | Abinader | Bukele / ?? | // Bernardo Arevalo | (P.M. Ariel Henry) | Castro | Lopez Obrador/ ?? | Ortega | Cortizo / ?? |
| Year (month of election & inaug.) |
Costa Rica 4 year term (Feb. / May) |
Cuba 5 year term (Apr. / ? ) |
Dominican Rep. 4 year term (May / Aug.) |
El Salvador 5 year term (Feb. / June) |
Guatemala 4 year term (June / Jan.) |
Haiti 5 year term (Feb. / May?) |
Honduras 4 year term (Nov. / Jan.) |
Mexico 6 year term (July / Dec.) |
Nicaragua 5 year term (Nov. / Jan.) |
Panama 5 year term (May / Sept.) |
| KEY | military | left wing | moderate left | centrist, undefined, or changed | authoritarian populist |
moderate right | right wing | #C# : coup, #R# : revolution #D# : leader death #A# : assass. |
// : normal democ. succession (incl. reelection) |
|| : transition to democracy \\ : removal via impeachment |
SOURCES: Wiarda and Kline (2000); Skidmore and Smith (1997); Mainwaring and Scully (1995); World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2017 & 2022; Washington Post; The World Factbook (CIA); Wikipedia
NOTES: Presidents are generally classified according to ideology, which in many cases is hard to pin down, hence the large number of gray cells in the above table, denoting centrist ideology. Military rulers often have had a conservative political orientation, but this may not be the case with some of them. The classification of "authoritarian populist" refers to leaders who appealed to a large segment of the population while defying traditional democratic norms, usually claiming to be "anti-establishment" or nationalistic. Unlike traditional conservativism, they do not rely upon the business elite or property-owning classes as their primary base of support. Their authoritarian leanings may or may not have been acted upon in practice.
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