Threatening Aruba with a ‘default’ to sign the refinancing agreement, while parties were actually still negotiating, doesn’t deserve a ‘beauty prize’ in the commemorative year of slavery past.
Recently, State Secretary Van Huffelen (STAS) has in the Dutch press surprisedly responded to the criticism of Minister Maduro about the colonial behavior of the Netherlands towards Aruba in the negotiations for the repayment of the corona loans. According to STAS, the Netherlands would like to reach an agreement on the establishment of financial supervision, but the government in Oranjestad calls it ‘colonial behaviour’. Minister Maduro denies this statement. The financial supervision in Aruba is not up for discussion, it has been existing since 2015 and is enshrined in the Aruba Temporary Financial Supervision (LAFT).
What is under discussion is the “penalty interest” on the corona loans that the Netherlands imposes on the Aruban people for the help that Aruba has requested under article 36 of the Statute. Minister Maduro finds it, to say the least, surprising that the Netherlands, at the mouth of BZK, imposes a “penalty interest rate” on Aruba and also threatens Aruba with a “default” as a means of pressure to sign the refinancing agreement. Such handling of a request for help within the Kingdom, of note, during the commemoration of the slavery past, deserves no beauty award and is not ‘well spoken in any language. ‘The Netherlands cannot, on the one hand, apologize for the past of slavery, and on the other hand, impose a ‘penalty interest’ on Aruba worth more than 300 million florin (150 million euros), earned for the suffering of the Aruban people during the pandemic. Such a performance by the Netherlands reflects a colonial practice, when profits had to be made with the colonies.
With some self-reflection on the practices of our slavery past in the Kingdom, the Netherlands would have handled Aruba’s request for help differently.
In the context of the slavery past, it still seems that only the law of ‘Sjoon Grandi’ is good enough, and that the countries from The Hague should be governed. If Aruba doesn’t do what ‘Sjoon Grandi’ wants, whips will be handed out, threat of a ‘default’ with fatal consequences for the credit of the Aruban government and business, including imposing interest on refinancing the pandemic loan more than twice the size is then the interest that the Netherlands pays on the capital market. So that the Netherlands earns about 150 million euros. This way of acting certainly doesn’t deserve a ‘beauty award’ during the memorial year of slavery past. This also requires a deep self-reflection on the side of the Netherlands.
Apologies are offered for actions/practices that no longer occur. The Dutch State has offered apologies for the slavery past and has called for an investigation into the continuation of the slavery past in the present. With some self-reflection, the negotiating team and STAS of BZK could have seen that the way the negotiations are being negotiated, the pressure being exerted, the threat of a “default” of Aruba, and the imposition of a 300 million florin “penalty interest” on the Aruban people for a loan to pay Being able to survive a pandemic, is not from this time, but it shows a lot of similarities to the performance in the Dutch colonial past.
We can save each other the “blaming again and again” if we can sincerely work towards a relationship in the Kingdom of the Netherlands based on mutual respect and equality, recognition of our autonomy and the ability to manage our own financial affairs. The apologies offered for the slavery past are an important step in the right direction, but self-reflection is also necessary to realize that the Netherlands cannot blame its own failure every time on Aruba.