Abstract
Research with a qualitative approach, which sought to understand the meanings attributed by opinion leaders - collective health workers, representatives of social movements, university professors and journalists - about citizenship, in the field of health, and its exercise on the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Data collection took place through an open interview based on two guiding questions: What is citizenship for you? What does it represent in border territories? The results indicate that the exercise of fundamental and social rights has its own contradictions for those who live in border territories, different conceptions of citizenship and its exercise at the border coexist and the notion of citizenship as an attribute of nationals is not enough for the dynamics that are established in these territories. It is concluded that the understanding of the border as a space of integration, and not of division, can break with the reality built by a local sub-citizenship, strengthening humanitarian and solidarity ties between border communities, which can contribute to the enjoyment of rights in this territoriality, as the right to health. We understand that opinion leaders should be summoned to the debate with a view to building a public agenda that discusses the construction of international citizenship.
Keywords:
Citizenship; International borders; Right to Health; Social policies.