Latin American political history in XX and XXI centuries has been marked by the emergence of political proposals with national and popular trends that appeal to the State-government-masses relationship to justify the erosion of the partisan establishment and the rejection of economic models. This phenomenon has been defined as populism, a term that has been widely debated since Irigoyen in Argentina to Chavez in Venezuela, due to its matching features and its divergent ideological tendencies. For this reason and with the aim of contributing to the various presentations from authors such as Laclau, Touraine, Ellner, Roberts, among others, this article pretends to present historical and conceptual variables that lead to conclude whether chavismo is a neopopulist or populist government.La historia política latinoamericana del siglo XX y XXI se ha caracterizado por la emergencia de propuestas políticas con tendencias nacionalistas y populares que apelan a la relación Estado-gobierno–masas para legitimar la erosión del establishment partidista y el rechazo a modelos económicos. Este fenómeno se ha definido como populismo, término que ha sido ampliamente debatido desde Irigoyen en Argentina hasta Chávez en Venezuela debido a sus rasgos coincidentes y sus tendencias ideológicas divergentes. Por lo anterior y con el ánimo de contribuir a las diversas disertaciones entre autores como Laclau, Touraine, Ellner, Roberts, entre otros, este artículo pretende presentar variables históricas y conceptuales que conlleven a concluir si el chavismo es un gobierno neopopulista o populista.