South America, Elections | featured news

A presidential election to replace late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez will be held on 14 April, the country's electoral commission says.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Sobbing and shouting, a sea of Hugo Chavez's supporters paraded his coffin through the streets of Caracas on Wednesday in an emotional outpouring that could help his deputy win an election to keep his socialist revolution alive.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was re-elected Sunday to a new six-year term, overcoming an energetic challenge by a candidate backed by an opposition coalition, according to results announced by election officials.

A couple on a motorcycle fired shots into a bus carrying Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado and her supporters Saturday, a campaign spokesman told CNN en Español.

President Cristina Fernandez, buoyed by Argentina's booming economy, was re-elected by a landslide Sunday, exit polls predicted. The polls aid Fernandez won 54 percent to 55 percent of the votes cast -- the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez got half the votes against a divided opposition in Sunday’s primary, giving her re-election campaign a feeling of invincibility.

Brazilian ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff's lead narrowed in two polls released on Saturday on the eve of the presidential election, raising the prospect she may be forced into a runoff against her main rival.

Venezuelans vote in a parliamentary election on Sunday with President Hugo Chavez expected to keep control of the National Assembly in a poll testing his support ahead of a presidential ballot in 2012.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - The race for Colombia's presidency began on Saturday, with former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos the favorite after the South American nation's popular incumbent was blocked from running for a third term.

Argentina's first couple suffered a stunning setback in an election seen as a referendum on their political dynasty, losing control of both houses of Congress.