The possession: means and purpose. Search of this concept in Colombia and Peru

En el presente texto, los autores analizan una de las instituciones que, conjuntamente con la propiedad, presupone el disfrute económico de un bien: la posesión. Se estudia el papel tradicional que ha tenido en el derecho civil: el de servir de medio que conduce a la usucapión, así como su perfil negativo de hecho ilícito. Entre ambas cuestiones se aborda su novedoso rol de derecho real de garantía, antes reservado con exclusividad al derecho de propiedad, que ha permitido en la experiencia comparada acercar a los sectores más deprimidos de la sociedad a los beneficios del crédito.In this text, the authors analyze one of the institutions that, along with property, presuppose the economic enjoyment of an asset: the possession. They study its traditional role in the civil law, as the means to usucapion, as well as its negative profile of unlawful act. Between both questions, its new role as real right of guarantee is approached, previously reserved just for property right, which has allowed, in the comparative experience, to bring over the most depressed sectors of the society to the benefits of credit