Cultural diversity has returned to the communication and cultural policies agenda since the adoption of the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions in 2005. Nevertheless, research about its implementation reveals that the treaty has been interpreted in very different ways. This article analyses the way in which the concept of cultural diversity was applied to audiovisual policies in Spain and Argentina. The main idea to prove is that the vagueness of the Convention has allowed governments with different political orientations to support policies that promote cultural diversity from a rhetoric point of view but that do not, for instance, question their existing positioning.