A mobilidade de comerciantes, feirantes e ambulantes: a produção das territorialidades bolivianas na fronteira de Corumbá, no Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil, e Puerto Quijarro, no departamento de Santa Cruz, Bolívia

Abstract

The research aims to analyze the dynamics of international pendular movements along the border between Corumbá, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and Puerto Quijarro, in the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. To achieve this, the present study is structured around three interconnected sub-questions. The first seeks specifically to understand the dynamics of mobility, the ways in which these movements are repeated across the territory, and the integration of Bolivian immigrants into the economic contribution to the city of Corumbá, Brazil. The second focuses on identifying migratory categories and the profiles of pendular immigrants based on mobility patterns, trade, and support networks. The third aims to understand the approach adopted by competent public agents in providing assistance to international pendular immigrants. The methodology used was qualitative research based on the Oral History approach. Methodological procedures involved interviews conducted with a group of migrants and a group of public agents. We examined the migratory trajectories of market vendors, shopkeepers, and street vendors. We found the importance of solidarity among them and the issue of honor and dignity in work, since migrants without formal employment contracts seek mutual assistance; without it, they would not be able to survive on the streets. We identified the various meanings attributed to work at the border between migrants and police officers, following the logic of the legal-illegal and formal-informal dichotomies. We found that goods are mobilized by multi-scale operators. We emphasize, however, that although Bolivians are important to local trade and service provision, prejudice still exists at this border. Nevertheless, at certain moments, this prejudice is minimized, as our interviewees are the ones who “make life cheaper at the border,” provide food diversity that complements the diet of border residents, and establish connections with cultural diversity. We observed the emergence of a new territoriality in the peripheral neighborhood of Popular Nova, which today houses many Bolivian immigrants who have rebuilt their lives and businesses under precarious conditions. We observed that the layout of the neighborhood’s streets changed over time, with new constructions emerging while older ones remained within territorialities. Many constructions are being carried out by merchants; old structures are giving way to new ones, expanding territorialities. We conclude that street space becomes territory, a place of life and experiences, being the product of its territorialities.