58 LatAm leaders have served with Trudeau

58 leaders have served at the same time as Trudeau.

Justin Trudeau has been through a lot these last ten years.

In November, the 53-year old Prime Minister of Canada would have reached a full decade at the head of the world’s second-largest country by area. Trudeau took office in late 2015 and has since presided over Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the welcoming of over 25K Syrian refugees, as well as diplomatic crises with India, Saudi Arabia, and – most recently – Donald Trump’s United States.

Given this long tenure, which is made doubly impressive when you recall that Trudeau’s Liberal Party has not won a majority in the last two federal elections, we thought today it would be interesting to look at how the leadership in Latin America has changed over the last decade.

And, well: nobody can say our region doesn’t appreciate some change.

Nearly 60 leaders have served alongside Trudeau, with a regional average of three presidents per country.

Part of the higher turnover rate in Latin America can be chalked up to the region’s presidential system versus Canada’s parliamentary system, which allows for longer tenures—in fact, Trudeau’s father spent even longer in office in the 1960s-1980s than his son has.

But part of the story is undoubtedly the turbulence of the last ten years in Latin America. Dilma Rousseff was controversially impeached and removed from office in Brazil before Trudeau’s government had turned a year old. From the Odebrecht scandal to the end of the pandemic, meanwhile, Peruvians watched a staggering seven presidents be sworn in.

Which isn’t to say that change is inherently bad. After all, two Latin American leaders appear to have outlasted Trudeau—unfortunately, they’re the dictators running Nicaragua and Venezuela.