It’s time for our politicians to ‘walk the talk’. As former Minister of Finance Mr. Angel Bermúdez once said: “Say what you’re going to do, and do what you said.”
Autonomy is not something to store in a box. We, as Aruba, exercise our autonomy when we determine our own course. As an autonomous and sovereign country, Aruba chooses its goals and builds its plans. Now that we’ve paid off our debt to the Netherlands, we are moving out of the HOFA Kingdom Law.
At this moment, Aruba faces a crucial decision — one that has everyone’s attention — centered on the HOFA Kingdom Law, which will be debated in Parliament on Monday, November 10. A strong campaign is underway, and although Halloween has passed, the ghosts are still being raised to scare the community with something that may not be well understood, creating division: HOFA.
Given the discussions and division in our community about this issue, Partido RAIZ wishes to publicly clarify its position on the HOFA Kingdom Law so that more people can understand it. The negotiation of the HOFA law — meant to reach an agreement with the Netherlands to repay more than 1 billion florins that Aruba owes — should be a moment of reflection for all of us.
Setting aside political debates of recent months, let’s reflect on what brought us to this crucial point. Let’s understand why we must unite as a country, and why we must use our autonomy to reach a solution that gives our nation the opportunity to achieve sustainable and stable public finances — something that will improve our quality of life and that of future generations.
The Netherlands wants to take away our autonomy?
Every day we hear claims that the Netherlands wants to take away our autonomy. This idea is absurd. It plays on people’s emotions and their love for Aruba. But the truth is different.
Today, our country owes the Netherlands more than 1 billion florins. Just like someone with a mortgage, the Netherlands now holds a mortgage on our island — a heavy burden to repay. The Netherlands could choose to impose a flood of instructions and measures to force Aruba to pay, and if we failed to comply, they could theoretically strip away all traces of autonomy. That’s the situation we are in.
But the Netherlands is not doing that. Through HOFA, they are proposing a financial arrangement that gives Aruba flexibility to repay responsibly. They’re offering low-interest funding so we can help ourselves.
Some opposition politicians in Parliament talk about a ‘small bag of money’. Perhaps 40–50 million florins per year in low-interest funding seems small to them. But that’s exactly the money we need to help our elderly and others in poverty — people who can no longer live with dignity because past politicians abused autonomy.
So don’t be afraid of the ghost story that the Netherlands wants to take our autonomy. With such a large debt, they could take everything from us — but they aren’t. What the Netherlands offers is cheap funding, and in exchange, they ask only for a guarantee that Aruba will honor its commitments.
Just like a bank requires assurance for a mortgage, the Netherlands simply wants our commitment to fulfill our obligations. The major cause of poverty and hardship among our people is our massive debt and high interest. HOFA gives us breathing space, reducing both our debt and our interest burden.
Exit Clause
Partido RAIZ believes that there is a gap in the HOFA law that must be addressed: it lacks an exit clause allowing Aruba to leave the arrangement once we have fully repaid the Netherlands.
Just like with a mortgage — once you’ve paid off your debt, the bank no longer has any claim, and the mortgage is removed by the notary. This provision is missing in HOFA.
The current exit clause does not state that the law expires once we’ve repaid the Netherlands. Reportedly, the Netherlands wants the law to protect its loans, but Aruba should also have the option to leave once we no longer owe anything.
If we’re doing well and can repay faster, then we should be free to exit once the debt is paid.
In RAIZ’s view, HOFA should include not only a debt/GDP target as an exit condition, but also a clear clause giving Aruba the right to pay off the Netherlands and end the arrangement.
HOFA will generate major savings on interest expenses.
What’s the real problem?
HOFA will help Aruba save a lot of money — money that will flow back into our communities.
The real issue is that the opposition does not want these funds to become available under the current government, because then this Cabinet could use them for social spending (as previous governments have done) and easily win the next elections.
So the problem isn’t HOFA — it’s the timing of the funds that will help the people but come at a politically inconvenient moment for the opposition.
As a serious nation with a focused government, it shouldn’t matter under which law we repay our debt to the Netherlands. We shouldn’t have a problem with appointing a supervisor to monitor how we, as an autonomous country, execute our plans.
Supervision is not interference, and we are not giving up our autonomy — because we are the ones setting and implementing our goals and plans.
Press release: RAIZ