Failing while succeeding? On the delicate effects of a yet sincere cooperation

Within wider critical thoughts on and inside international cooperation, in this contribution some reflections are made about possible approaches to evaluate the effects of cooperation actions onto recipient populations. Starting from an experience of academically-led independent cooperation in a rural internal area of El Salvador, Central America, a debate is stimulated on how international cooperation can avoid forcing the beneficiary populations, and instead really and solely serve the interests of the recipients: their strategic empowerment and – above all – their self-determination.