The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Yván Gil, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Tom Berendsen, with the aim of “strengthening the agenda of cooperation and mutual respect.” The Telesur report states that Venezuela reaffirmed its commitment to the good neighbor policy, prioritizing the strengthening of bilateral relations and the dynamism of cultural and human exchange with the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. It also reaffirmed the commitment to promote tourism with the ABC “Dutch islands.” The Bolivarian Government will provide support for investment and cooperation with Dutch companies in various sectors of the Venezuelan economy, with a particular emphasis on key areas such as agriculture, energy, and transportation.
What does this report tell us? The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela did not meet with the Prime Minister or the Minister of Economic Development of Curaçao. The commitment is not to local companies, but to Dutch companies. It is unacceptable that the islands, having been neighbors of Venezuela for centuries, are not conversation partners. On the contrary, Venezuela addresses the Netherlands to talk about bilateral relations and cultural and human exchange with the islands. Why is this matter handled this way? Because Curaçao is simply a colony of the Netherlands. Our leaders continue to accept the economic and political system in which the Netherlands subjects, dominates, and annexes the people of Curaçao and uses them to its advantage.
The claim that Curaçao has autonomy and is an equal partner in the Kingdom is a pure farce. Although there is talk of 4 equal partners in the Kingdom, in reality, there is no equality of position and power between the partners, but simply equivalence. The Charter (Statuut) states in Article 41 that each country has autonomy to handle its own affairs. All interests they have in common can be handled in an equivalent manner. If Curaçao wants to develop its plans for agriculture, livestock farming, food exchange, scientific research, and cultural exchange with Venezuela, that is purely Curaçao’s interest. The fact that the Netherlands must handle these matters for Curaçao clearly shows that Curaçao is a colony. Doing business in a bilateral form with neighboring country Venezuela is Curaçao’s own business—the own business and direct interest of the people of Curaçao. Venezuela, knowing that we are a colony of the Netherlands, approaches the Dutch minister directly, because Venezuela knows that the government of Curaçao has no authority whatsoever.
The Charter is nothing more than a trick by Dutch politicians to make the United Nations and the world believe that the Netherlands no longer has colonies, and to keep our people and politicians under the illusion that we manage our own affairs. An example of this illusion is the Mutual Agreement (Onderlinge Regeling) that Prime Minister Pisas signed with the government of the Netherlands in April 2023. The government bragged heavily and declared that his government swept CHE and COHO off the table. But in reality, the Pisas government entered into a Mutual Agreement with the Netherlands where it is not three Dutchmen sitting in The Hague, but the entire Dutch “Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations” that governs Curaçao until 2027. Their only task is to execute the “landspakket Curaçao” (country package). And this without the involvement of the Parliament that the people elected by popular vote to control the government.
As a Dutch colony, Curaçao serves as a springboard for Dutch investors to do business with the Caribbean and Latin America. From the Growth Strategy/Growth Agreement (Groeistrategie/Groeiakkoord), it could be seen that the goal is to create an ideal situation for Dutch entrepreneurs to enter the regional market. The agreement between Venezuela and the Netherlands regarding tourism will favor companies like Tui, KLM, Corendon, and hotel entrepreneurs. The agreement between the two countries will bring no benefit to Curaçao.
A country that does not have foreign relations in its own hands can never conduct an economic policy in favor and in the interest of its people. The Charter states in Article 3 that foreign affairs are in the hands of the Kingdom. In other words, Curaçao’s foreign affairs must be handled by Kingdom organs and not by Curaçao itself. To make matters worse, Kingdom is synonymous with the Netherlands. Article 5 of the Charter prescribes and legitimizes that regarding the Kingdom, all organs of the country of the Netherlands become organs of the Kingdom. In other words: Curaçao will never be able to conduct an independent economic policy with its neighbors Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad, Barbados, and Jamaica. For this to happen, the Dutch minister of foreign affairs and economic affairs must approve and conclude the agreements for Curaçao. The Charter clearly states that each of the agreements concluded must primarily be in the interest of the Kingdom and the Netherlands. If not, the party is over. Is this how we leave Curaçao for future generations? Never!!! The struggle for an independent Curaçao continues.