The purpose of this text is to examine trends in Latin American social policy in the 21st century based on their genesis and development in the late 20th century, under contingencies imposed by neoliberalism. The confrontation with poverty and social inequalities constitute, in this new century, two opposing paradigms. The paper considers that this duality tends to strengthen the existence of parallel social systems that weaken the scope of egalitarian standards of social rights for all citizens.
Social policies; Latin American public policies; Social rights; Universalism