ABSTRACT
In the study of the cultural changes that began to take place in the Andean world in the sixteenth century, as well as in discussions about contemporary Latin American culture, it is frequent to encounter terms whose function is shamelessly ideological, along with others whose purely analytical or even descriptive functions would seem unimpeachable. The problem of syncretism an innocuous or even inexistent problem at sight forces to confront the issue of power and legitimacy: the power to determine not only who works and who makes use of fruits of labour, but the power to design the structures of supernatural. Considering the role played by the supernatural realm in the legitimation of cultural and political structures, one can see that to postulate a definition given from outside results in depriving certain groups, and frequently also oneself, of cultural and political legitimacy. The problem of syncretism an innocuous or even inexistent problem at first sight forces us to confront the issue of power and legitimacy.
