Latin-American Criminal Justice Policy presents a diversity of common characteristics, more and more visible given the progressive process of integration and globalization. A first approximation emphasizes that in addition to a deficient implementation of laws, legislative criminal policies are characterized by the proliferation and abuse of special laws, with the consequent deficit of juridical safety and legislative technical quality. But setting aside other aspects presented in this article, the most significant feature of current criminal policy is the so called 'supravaloración securitaria,' a paradigm under which there is a notable penal increase in response to classic criminal activity and to certain criminal figures that are extended to new environments, and an extended and intensified use of prison sentences. Indeed, there is a widespread feeling of civic insecurity enhanced by the media and a punitive populism, that brings urgency to the call for more rationality in the construction of modern criminal policy which is also in accordance with the principles of a democratic state. [TRANSLATION]