Living in a home in conditions of safety, quality and spatiality, in a consolidated urban environment, constitutes one of the main development and quality of life objectives of Latin American families, but it is not a reality for many people residing in informal settlements in Latin America. This represents one of the greatest challenges for sustainable urban development, because people who live in conditions of poverty and vulnerability generate burden for the economic system, the social welfare system and increase environmental demand on natural resources, without obtaining benefits and returns that can make the urban habitat sustainable. From this perspective, this research proposes, based on a critical review of the national reports made by some Latin American countries for Habitat III, the development of a comparative analysis of the different statements of Latin American governments regarding the problem of informal settlements. Among the most representative findings of this research is that neither there is no direct relationship between the political ideology of a country and the number of people in informal settlements, which can represent between 16 and 30% of the population in the subcontinent, nor are the necessary actions to mitigate this problem evident in the reports presented in Habitat III. As a result of this research, it can be concluded that both the notion of sustainability and its possible application do not represent a significant element that defines or determines explicit statements or actions to be applied in Latin America.