South America Time Zone - South America Current Time
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SOUTH AMERICA TIME ZONES - CURRENT TIME
South America uses five standard time zones. From west to east they are UTC - 5, UTC - 4, UTC - 4:30, UTC - 3 and UTC - 2. Countries in South America which use the UTC - 5 time zone are part of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. UTC - 4:30 is the standard time in Venezuela. UTC - 4 is the standard time in Bolivia, part of Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. UTC - 3 is the standard time for Argentina, part of Brazil and Uruguay. Several islands off the east coast of Brazil, including the twenty one islands in the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha observe UTC - 2 standard time. Easter Island which is a special territory of Chile and the Galapagos Islands which are a part of Ecuador observe UTC - 6 standard time. Most countries in Central America use the UTC - 6 time zone except for Panama which observes UTC - 5.
Brazil uses four time zones. Much of Brazil follows Brasilia official time which is UTC - 3. Daylight Saving Time in Brazil is observed by most of the southern, southeastern and central western states. View more information about time zones and daylight saving time in Brazil.
Daylight Saving Time in South America is used by several countries, including Brazil, Chile, Easter Island, Falkland Islands, and Paraguay.  The Falkland Islands are currently observing daylight saving time year round. Due to their global position south of the equator, countries in South America usually start daylight saving time in October or November and end the usage in January through March.
In June 2015 the government of Uruguay made a decision not to start daylight saving time in October as they had in previous years. As a result Uruguay has remained on standard time UTC/GMT -3.
In March 2016 authorities in Chile announced the country will end the use of observing UTC/GMT -3 year round and turn clocks back one hour as of May 15, 2016 (Midnight between Saturday and Sunday). The country will remain on its previous standard time UTC/GMT -4 from May 15, 2016 through August 13, 2016. Then for the following nine months the country will utilize daylight saving time. Previously in January 2015 authorities in Chile announced the country would not turn clocks back one hour when daylight saving time was scheduled to end on Sunday April 26, 2015. Chile instead elected to observe UTC/GMT -3 or the equivalent of daylight saving time year round.
The government of Venezuela has announced the country will observe UTC/GMT -4 effective May 1, 2016 at 2:30 am local time. This change resulted in clocks being moved forward thirty minutes. Previously Venezuela observed UTC -4:30. The change is due to concerns about a potential disruption of electrical power as a result of a continuing drought in the country.
South America Time Zone Map