Abstract

The cross-border urban complex formed by the two towns of Desaguadero, on the PeruvianBolivian border, is a space where different scales of cross-border relations converge and coexist. On a more visible level, it is the most active crossing point for binational trade. Above all, it is a space of interaction where the global and the local interact, generating numerous points of inflection in politics, socio-cultural relations, and the economy. From here, the urban complex operates through what is called surreptitious politics, understood as public decision-making via informal, often illegal, consultations that make opacity a guarantee of operation; this generates practices of unreflective, axiological solidarity governance, based on systems of use in daily life and customary relations. Cross-border cooperation processes do not escape this situation; they essentially dispense with formal arrangements and are articulated on a quotidian basis.