Latin americaDurations of presidential transition in Latin America, country by country
On January 14, Bernardo Arévalo assumed the presidency of Guatemala a full five months after his electoral win in August last year. The near half-year handover period which saw him replace incumbent Alejandro Giammattei gave the opposition ample time to stymie his inauguration.
So are drawn-out transitions like this the norm for Latin America?
The following table shows how long it takes from election victories and inaugurations for 18 countries of the region. 235 days elapsed between Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, securing another term in May 2018 and being sworn in, whereas Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador had to wait five months.
In stark contrast, Luis Arce of Bolivia and Javier Milei in Argentina both took office within just three weeks.
