2023: Year in Review: Two of Latin America's largest economies saw dramatic political shifts in 2023

Two of Latin America's largest economies saw dramatic political shifts in 2023, as the regional trend of voting out the ruling party continued. Joel Richards has this look back at the region's presidential elections over the past year.

On the first day of 2023, leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to the presidency in Brazil for a third term, more than a decade after his second term ended. He moved quickly to roll back legislation introduced by his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, President of Brazil "Brazil doesn't want and doesn't need guns in the hands of the people. Brazil needs security, Brazil needs books, education and culture so that we can be a more just country."

His words preceded drama in the Brazilian capital just a week later. After an acrimonious election, Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Supreme Court, the presidential palace and Congress.

In June, judges banned Bolsonaro from running for public office for eight years, finding he had abused his presidential powers during the election. It was the first of several changes of power in Latin America in 2023. Yet in April there was rare continuity for Paraguay's long-ruling Colorado Party, as its candidate Santiago Peña won voters' support.

Since 2019, only two out of 18 presidential elections held in the region have seen the incumbent party retain power.

Uncertainty remains in Guatemala. The United Nations has voiced its concern about public prosecutors seeking to overturn progressive President-elect Bernardo Arevalo's victory. Arevalo is due to take office in January.

In Ecuador, elections were held in October with politicians wearing bullet proof vests after presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated in August.

35 year old Daniel Noboa became the youngest president in the country's history, winning on the promise of tackling crime. The year ended with seismic change in Argentina, the region's third largest economy. Voters turned their backs on the traditional parties and elected the outsider, Javier Milei, who describes himself as an "anarcho-capitalist."

JAVIER MILEI, President of Argentina "There is no alternative to austerity. And there is no alternative to shock treatment. Naturally, it will have a negative impact on the level of economic activity, employment, real wages, and the number of poor and indigent people."

He had campaigned with a chainsaw in hand, and promised economic shock therapy the day he took office.

JOEL RICHARDS, Buenos Aires "And Milei was swift to deliver on his promises. In the first two weeks in office, his government announced a 54% devaluation of the peso, it halved the number of ministries and via a presidential decree, Milei pushed forward with wholesale deregulation of the economy and privatization of state-owned companies."

Protests erupted shortly after the announcement of the deregulation decree, suggesting further social unrest in Argentina in the coming months. 2024 brings a busy election calendar with six Latin American countries, including Mexico and Venezuela, going to the polls to choose leaders.