How Old Are LatAm's Heads of State?
LatAm's average head of state is 61, but the median citizen is just 31.
Gabriel Boric has been many things in his lifetime. A law school dropout. An outspoken fan of Taylor Swift. A student protest leader turned member of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies.
Oh, and the world’s youngest democratically-elected leader.
Yes, at just over 37 years old Boric is the youngest elected president in the world. Notable for his tattoos and his casual sense of attire, he has been a change of pace for a country where all living former leaders are at least in their seventies.
Latin America’s other youngest leaders include Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, 41, and Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, 49. Meanwhile, the oldest Latin American leader, Nicaraguan autocrat Daniel Ortega, is 77 years old—quite literally a different generation from his Chilean and Uruguayan peers. To give you an idea, neither Boric nor Bukele were born when he first took power in 1979.
Good leaders can obviously come from any generation. However, Latin Americans have a median age of 31 years while the average head of state in the region is 61 years old. This startling gap may play a role in lower turnout among younger voters. After all, the leaders of Latin America’s biggest countries—Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina—have all been involved in politics for at least the last two to three decades, if not more. And solutions from 2003 will likely not solve the problems of 2023.
Now, Gabriel Boric and Nayib Bukele represent staunchly different types of presidents. But there’s something to be said about leaders reflecting the people they’re elected to represent. On average, Latin America remains a younger region, one full of innovation and people yearning to improve the lives of themselves and their families. If leaders don’t deliver for their constituents, then a push towards a fresh face—a younger one—will almost certainly emerge. We for one look forward to seeing the next generation of leaders take the reins.
And who knows? Boric may find himself in the company of other Swiftie presidents soon.