Abstract

Reviewing the doctrine from the earliest issues to the present day in the Rivista Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo reveals a shift in perspective on Latin American constitutional experiences. Initially, the belief was that Latin America could be assimilated into European and, to some extent, U.S. legal categories. This led comparative law to focus on individual systems shaped by colonial history. Over time, however, the debate on Latin American constitutionalism began to emancipate from European and North American influences. By examining the limits on presidential re-election, this paper supports the hypothesis that Latin American constitutionalism is not merely an indigenous variant of democratic constitutionalism. Instead, it represents an autonomous experience based on entirely different assumptions.