2025 is likely to be a transformative year for Latin America and the Caribbean, and its relationships with the United States, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other actors. Although it is impossible to predict with certainty the complex interaction among interdependent events and factors, it is important to recognize the substantial number of elections and key change events that will impact the region this year, unprecedented quantity of interacting forces which will shape its dynamics, and the possibilities for shocks coming from both within and beyond the region.
A Political Calendar Filled with Change Opportunities
In 2025, Latin America will have a larger number of national elections and other significant political events on its calendar than it did in the very significant electoral year 2024.
The 2025 political calendar will begin with the January 10 “inauguration” of a government in Venezuela, an event which is likely to involve the simultaneous swearing in of the actually elected, “de jure” government of Edmundo Gonzalez, and the “de facto” government of Nicholas Maduro. These events will almost certainly to be followed by massive national protests by Gonzalez loyalists, largescale repression and arrests by Maduro-loyal security forces, and new waves of sanctions by the outgoing U.S. Administration of Joe Biden, then more by the incoming administration of Donald Trump.
Keywords: Caribbean, China, Geopolitics, Latin America, United States, Venezuela, Latin and South America
Background photo of Vista da Plaza de Armas em Cusco, Peru, July, 2012, from Wikimedia (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plaza_de_Armas_em_Cusco.jpg)