Cross-border cooperation in the Trifinio region and the transfer of European transborder governance models in Latina America

Some of the most advanced cross-border cooperation initiatives in Latin American are to be found in the Trifinio region. These have been promoted by European institutions and have been inspired by the European model of cross-border governance. The model, however, has not simply been transplanted from Europe, but has been adapted to local circumstances and to the specifics of rescaling and macro-regional integration processes in the region, and in Latin America more in general. In the light of academic debates about Europeanization, this article aims to show how both the potential and the limits of such initiatives may only be properly understood in light of a balance between transnational contamination and local adaptation, and between the transfer of models and narratives that are typical of the EU, and their appropriation by local actors.