Latin American Leaders

Calderon has been president of Mexico since Dec. 1, 2006, serving one six-year term that will expire in 2012. Won the vote in a razor-thin, contested election against leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. A Harvard-educated lawyer with legislative experience who was secretary of energy under President Vicente Fox. Used to be president of the conservative National Action Party (PAN). Has made the war against drug cartels a priority since stepping into office.

The president of Venezuela since February 1999, Chavez has captured headlines for being a thorn in the side of Western leaders and for regularly offering a bevy of antagonistic, paranoid, nationalist soundbites. Declaring that he has a mandate for a socialist transformation in the country, Chavez has continued to dismantle free media and nationalize various industries. Rising crime and unemployment also threaten his rule, but Chavez has concentrated on forging alliances from Iran to other leftists in Latin America.

The president of Chile won election on Jan. 17, 2010, and took office on March 11, 2010. He's a Harvard-educated investor who ranked #701 on Forbes' 2009 list of the world's billionaires and founded credit giant Bancard.

Lobo won the Nov. 29, 2009, presidential election in the wake of the political crisis stirred by the June 2009 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. A farmer, rancher and landowner who had served in the Honduran National Congress since 1990, including president of the Congress from 2002-2006, the conservative leader is president of the National Party of Honduras, the main opposition center-right party.

Zelaya is the son of a wealthy businessman, and a businessman in his own right, who became president of Honduras in January 2006 and was driven from the country in June 2009 when he pressed forward with a constitutional referendum -- deemed illegal by the country's supreme court -- that would have allowed additional presidential terms. Zelaya, particularly with the assistance of leftist Latin American leaders, has been insistent on returning to rule in Honduras.