Mechanisms of direct democracy (MDDs) are defined as a set of procedures allowing citizens to influence political decisions directly through a vote beyond regular elections of representatives. Legal provisions to activate MDDs, including recall elections, have spread in the Latin American region in the last decades. Not surprisingly, referendums have become an important tool for institutional and political struggles. This article investigates the attempts of activating referendums addressed to change or avoid a change of presidential term limits (addressed to rules and / or directly to presidents). It explores the conditions under which the referendum takes place or not as well as their results, considering the challenge of a referendum as part of the bargaining. The cases analyzed include Peru 1993 and 1998; Argentina 1993; Colombia 2009; Ecuador 1994, 1997, 2014 and 2018; Honduras 2009; Bolivia 2008 and 2016; Venezuela 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2018; México 2021).