In recent years, the term "neopopulism" has been used to refer to several governments that implemented the policies recommended through the so-called "Washington consensus". This article discusses the pertinence of such a characterization, which reduces the analysis of particular instrumental or partial aspects of the respective governments in detriment of their goals and, more generally speaking, the political project that they put into effect or sought to implement. We argue that to speak of these cases as neo-populism means improperly characterizing the experiences to which they refer, confounding the nature, goals and political and socioeconomic strategies of Latin American populism. We then proceed with an analysis of the key dimensions of the neopopulist hypothesis and conclude with an evaluation of it.
populism; neopopulism; neoliberalism; clientelism; Argentina; Mexico; Peru; Menem; Salinas de Gortari; Fujimori