Nine presidential elections should shape the future of the region for the remainder of the decade.

Gabriela Perdomo - This year started with the general prediction of Latin American politics "turning left". At the end of 2006, the forecast can be examined with more caution, and more facts.

Bolivia was first. The landlocked South American country held presidential elections in December 2005. In January 2006, coca-farmer and union-leader Evo Morales was officially sworn in. An ally of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, Morales, leader of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), became the first indigenous president to be elected in the Americas in a country where three out of five people are of indigenous descent. Morales won with 53.72 per cent of the vote running a campaign praising socialist reforms. Among other things, Morales promised to "re-found" the country by renewing the Constitution, as well as to nationalize Bolivia's important hydrocarbon industry and promote land reforms. Morales is supposed to serve in office for five years.

Chile was next. On Jan. 15, Michelle Bachelet became the first woman to be democratically elected in South America. Leading the centre-left Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD), she was elected president in a run-off against conservative Sebastián Piñera with 53 per cent of the vote. Bachelet belongs to the Socialist Party (PS), which has been in power ever since Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship ended in 1990. She is considered a moderate socialist and will be in office for four years.

On Feb. 5, Óscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Costa Rica, won a second term in office in the Central American nation. Arias promoted a peace agreement between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in the 1980s that ended years of bloodshed throughout the region. In this election, he represented the National Liberation Party (PLN) and promised to promote government transparency and ethics.

On May 28, Colombians faced for the first time in recent history the figure of immediate presidential re-election, thanks to a constitutional amendment promoted by the president who would then be favoured by it. Álvaro Uribe, an independent who won the 2001 poll campaigning for a "tough hand" against the leftist guerrillas and a stronger national army, was re-elected that day with 62 per cent of the vote. Uribe's government is considered one of the most right-leaning of the region and one of the closest to Washington. Uribe has also become one of Colombia's most popular presidents. His approval ratings are always around 70 per cent, despite numerous scandals of corruption and crime involving close aids, government officials and political allies. The next election in Colombia is scheduled for 2008, but Uribe will not be eligible for a third term.

The next country to elect a president this year was Peru. On Jun. 4, Alan García defeated nationalist-radical Ollanta Humala in a run-off vote. García had been the Andean country's president from 1985 to 1990, when he drove Peru's economy into debacle. This year, García, who considers himself a moderate socialist, promised to build on the conservative economic policies than have kept Peru's economy afloat and with very stable growth rates for the past five years. García was the candidate of the American Revolutionary People's Alliance (APRA) and will serve a five-year term in office

On Jul. 2, it was Mexico's turn to vote. The country's citizens would only know who won the ballot until Sept. 5, when Felipe Calderón, from the National Action Party (PAN), was officially declared president. Calderón beat his opponent, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, from the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), by less than one percentage point. López Obrador still alleges there was fraud in the election and refuses to accept his defeat. Calderón has promised to promote more social spending while keeping a tight grip on the economy during his six years in Los Pinos.

Brazilians re-elected their incumbent president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, in October. Lula, one of Latin America's most respected leaders, needed a run-off vote against his closest contender, Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin, to conquer his second term in office. He won 60.8 per cent of the vote on Oct. 29, demonstrating he is still extremely popular in Brazil, especially among the poor, who have benefited with his social policies. The biggest challenges for Lula's next four years in office include cleaning his Labour Party's (PT) image, and speeding up the country's economic growth.

Yet another former president came back to power this year, this time in Nicaragua. Former revolutionary commander and president of the Central American country, Daniel Ortega, was elected on Nov. 5. Ortega, who still leads the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)—the group that put an end to the Somoza domination in the 1970s—won the ballot even though he only garnered 37.99 per cent of the vote, thanks to an electoral reform he helped pass years before.

Ortega is a historical foe of Washington, but in reality the once leftist FSLN is a very different and rather conservative party today. Those who count Ortega as one of the presidents belonging to the "left turn" in Latin America might be surprised when they see the right-leaning populist in him.

On Nov. 26, Ecuador's presidential election took place amidst great expectation from neighbouring countries. Rafael Correa, an independent socialist and a young populist defeated billionaire Álvaro Noboa, another populist, with 56.67 per cent of the vote in a run-off poll. What Correa pretends to do during his time in office remains a mystery. He decided not to promote any legislative candidates and has no party to support him in Congress. He says the country's political system, one of the most unstable in the region, needs a complete overhaul.

Last but not least, Venezuela the country to close this year's election frenzy in Latin America. On Dec. 3, Hugo Chávez, who has been in office for eight years, secured another six years in the country's presidency garnering 62.89 per cent of the vote. The controversial Chávez has said next year will mark the beginning of the "deep socialist revolution" in Venezuela. His mandate is scheduled end in 2013, but it could go on for longer if the president enforces new laws that would allow him to stay in power indefinitely, as he has said he would like to.

At least for the next four years, these will be the leaders influencing Latin America's political landscape. In general terms, a belief in populist promises rather than a "turn towards the left" has marked this year's elections. A new string of democratic processes will determine if the populists delivered what they promised, or if they failed.

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