Chile

Piñera elected president

Sebastián Piñera from the conservative Coalition for Change won the final round of the presidential elections held on 18 January, defeating former president Eduardo Frei, from the incumbent coalition by a small margin. The result marks an end to two decades of centre-left governments since the country's return to democracy in 1990. Piñera has pledged to return the economy to the buoyant growth rates seen in the past but will have to negotiate with the opposition, as his party lacks a majority in Congress.