Election weekend in Latin america, where citizens of 3 countries were called to vote – Brazil, Uruguay, Chile – for a total, net of abstentions, of over 170 million eligible voters. A significant round, because in the case of Uruguay it was the presidential elections, with the possibility of the return to power of the Frente Amplio of Pepe Mujica after the center-right government of Luis Lacalle Pou, which in 2020 had ended fifteen consecutive years of government by the center-left coalition. Today Mujica's heir is Yamandu Bears who was the favorite on the eve and who in fact emerged victorious, even if with an insufficient advantage to close the game already in the first round: a runoff on November 24 will be necessary, which still sees him as the favorite but with the possibility that the outgoing majority, which has so far run divided, will reunite. Orsi took home 44% of the preferences against the 27% of Alvaro Delgado, of the Partido Nacional of President Lacalle Pou, but the third and fifth place winners of the first round are exponents of the center-right and adding their votes would reopen the game.
South American Elections: How It Went in Brazil and Chile
The centre-right fared much better in Brazil and Chile: in this case the elections were only administrative but they turned out to be a important midterm test for both Squid in view of the 2026 presidential elections, both for Gabriel boric, whose mandate will expire next year, in 2025. In Brazil, 155 million voters were eligible to vote, practically all those entitled to vote since voting was held in all 5.568 municipalities in the country. The verdict, for the government in office, was merciless: Lula, 79 years old and infirm, watched helplessly as his rival regained popularity Jair Bolsonaro, with the right having practically won almost everywhere, especially in São Paulo, the most populated metropolitan area in South America with its 20 million inhabitants (9 million voters in the municipality alone) and which was once an electoral stronghold of the Partido dos Trabalhadores, Lula's party. Instead, there was nothing to be done: the outgoing mayor Ricardo Nunes, an expression of the moderate right but also linked to Bolsonaro, was reconfirmed with 60%, and among the 27 capitals of the country the PT won only Fortaleza. In Rio de Janeiro the center-left held but with a mayor, Eduardo Paes, who is not linked to Lula and who won for the fourth consecutive time.
Lula, the big loser of the electoral round
Squid and so the big loser of the round, while the big winners were the center and the moderate right, but there was no shortage of extremism, old and new: Bolsonaro's Liberal Party is still bursting with health and in São Paulo the 37-year-old Pablo Marçal emerged, a multiple-convict who is the new face of populism, capable of gathering over 1,7 million votes and coming close to the runoff. Also in São Paulo, the most voted city councilor was the 26-year-old influencer Lucas Pavanato, who wants among other things to prohibit transsexuals from accessing bathrooms reserved for women, finance Pro-Life associations and militarize the city. Less radical seems to be the profile of the right that won in Chile, a country governed by the socialist Gabriel Boric and where voting took place in 345 municipalities, involving over 15 million voters. However, that of Santiago and its surroundings, with Boric's mandate expiring, was also an important thermometer: the government majority held up, conquering 111 cities, but the opposition of Chile Vamos, of the moderate right, took home 122. Compared to the previous administrative elections, the center-left lost 40 municipalities, while the opponents gained 36 more: a clear signal, even if the forecasts were even worse for Boric.
Note thehigh turnout, especially in Chile and Uruguay where 90% of those entitled to vote regularly went to the polls. Things went a little less well in Brazil: although voting is compulsory there between the ages of 18 and 70, in some cities abstention reached 30%.
