1) Jorge Luis Borges
2) Gabriel García Márquez
3) João Guimarães Rosa
4) Pablo Neruda
5) Julio Cortázar
6) José Donoso
7) Ernesto Sábato
8) Gabriela Mistral
9) José María Arguedas
10) Juan Carlos Onetti

I love Italo Calvino. I didn't know that he was influenced by Borges. I have added some major Borges's short fiction on my shelves. I will read them soon.
1 South American author is my all time favorite writer - Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Italo Calvino, the Italian? I never new he was influenced by him. I will now have to go back and read Borges again. I read him when I was a teenager and thought he was dull, but since I love Calvino, well now I will have to go back and check him out.

In reverse order:

(10) João Ubaldo Ribeiro
(09) Juan Rulfo
(08) Felisberto Hernandez
(07) Mario Vargas Llosa
(06) Bioy Casares
(05) Jorge Amado
(04) Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(03) G.Cabrera Infante
(02) Alvaro Mutis
(01) Jorge Luis Borges

I hope Infante counts (he's Cuban rather than South American)? The same for Rulfo (Mexican).

The winner in my view has to be Borges -- he influenced Calvino, Pavic and Barth, among many other superb writers. He changed the history of the short story. He made high concept ideas valid as a fundamental base for the creation of engaging fiction.

For me, Alvaro Mutis is a close second. A very underrated writer. Darker and harder than Marquez, the feverish atmospheres he evokes are incomparable...

Ok, so from Colombia to Argentina, and everywhere in between this continent, give me your top ten...