The revocation of the mandate has gained a place on the Latin American public agenda on the basis of the controversy generated by the referendums convened in Venezuela (2004) and Bolivia (2008) to revoke Presidents Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales (both failed). However, it is at local level that this institution has been activated more frequently and could be bringing about profound changes. This work aims to analyse the introduction, uses and advice of revoking local mandates in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The link between the revocatory referendum and representative democracy and its adoption in the pioneering countries in the deployment of direct democracy mechanisms (DDS) from the bottom up or triggered by citizens is briefly discussed below (1). (2) the context in which there has recently been a remarkable expansion of MDD in different parts of the world is then raised. Subsequently, (3) the Latin American situation is analysed in order to consider the context in which participatory mechanisms were promoted, the discussions in which the revocation has been introduced and the practices recorded. Finally, (4) some tentative conclusions were drawn on the potential and risks of this direct democracy mechanism.