South America Archive

SANTIAGO, Chile—Despite high numbers of COVID-19 infections and large segments of the population in quarantine, Chile held a crucial election on May 15 and 16. Voters selected 155 people to represent them in a constituent assembly charged with drafting a new constitution. Turnout, at roughly 43 percent, was not particularly high, though this is comparable with Chile’s long history of low electoral participation, and the pandemic likely depressed the number of those voting as well. In addition, three other elections were held simultaneously: for municipal council members, mayors and governors. This made the election process quite complex, because each vote […]

Long before Peru’s latest presidential election, the country’s political climate was already turbulent and unstable. After last weekend’s vote, the sky looks even cloudier, with a strong chance of storms. As Peruvians prepared to vote Sunday, their prospects already looked dim. A wild first-round ballot in April had included 18 candidates, none of whom even won 20 percent of the vote. The two polarizing political figures who made it into last weekend’s final round were appalling in the minds of most voters: the largely unknown Pedro Castillo, a hard-line leftist, schoolteacher and union activist; and the very well-known Keiko Fujimori, […]

Less than one week before a pivotal election in Peru, authorities released a revised count of the pandemic death toll in the South American country. It’s no secret that COVID-19 has devastated Peru, but the figures, nonetheless, were breathtaking. The government put the true number of deaths at 180,764, three times higher than earlier estimates. Other countries will likely recalculate their earlier numbers, as well. But for now, Peru holds the painful distinction of having the world’s highest pandemic death toll by population. Confirmation of just how catastrophic the pandemic has been for Peru helps explain the similarly disastrous political […]