Thrust Together: The Netherlands Relationship with Its Caribbean Partners

Abstract

In December 1942, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina announced, in a radio address, that the Netherlands was revising its relationship with its colonies, employing the famous words: “Relying on one’s own strength, with the will to support each other” [Steunend op eigen kracht, metde wil elkander bij te staan] (Schenk and spaan, 1945: 56). Some 52 years later, her granddaughter, Queen Beatrix, returned to this theme in a televised speech delivered to mark the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, when she referred to relations betweenThe Netherlands and its Caribbean partners as one of “a genuine relationship and mutual commitment” (een echte verwantschap en onderlinge betrokkenheid). This Charter, signed in 1954, had been drawn up to establish that henceforth the Kingdom of the Netherlands would be comprised of three equal partners: the Netherlands itself, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. Back in 1954, when it was signed, the Charter was widely viewed as constituting a first, major step towards eventual independence for the Dutch partners in the Caribbean. Nor could anyone have foreseen that, 40 years later, only Suriname would have achieved independence, while the islands of the Netherlands Antilles were renouncing that option and expressing a desire to remain Dutch.

1 Stories of Autonomy on Non-Sovereign Saba: Flipping the Script of Postcolonial Resistance

“…The literature strongly associates the governments of the Dutch Caribbean islands with corruption, nepotism and political clientelism (Oostindie 2009;Oostindie and Klinkers 2012;Roitman and Veenendaal 2016;Scheepmaker 2009), and scholars assert that these non-sovereign islands are plagued by morally wrong political practices and governmental incompetency. Since the 1990s, the involvement of the Dutch government in island affairs has been characterised by the promotion of an agenda of 'good governance' and, in response, this concept has come to play a central role in Dutch Caribbean studies (Hoefte 1996;Oostindie and Klinkers 2003). Scholars observe that this political agenda has led to resistance by local administrators who feel that their autonomy is undermined (Hoefte 1996: 42) and who seek options to keep matters under their own control (Oostindie and Klinkers 2012).…”

“…Aruba fractured this dream in 1986 when it was granted a status aparte as autonomous country. This was mostly in answer to Aruban resentment over Curaçao's dominance of the central Antillean government (Hoefte 1996). In the meantime, Saba continued its existence at the outer margins of the Dutch kingdom.…”

Between a ‘Kingdom’ and a hard place: the Dutch Caribbean and the Venezuelan migration crisis

“…Then known as the Dutch West Indies, realms of empire of the Netherlands also included Indonesia, which was the first to obtain independence in 1949. Its success though violent, influenced later secessionist movements in the Dutch Caribbean (Giacalone, 1990;Hoefte, 1996;Oostindie & Klinkers, 2003).…”

“…The arrangement continued for over 100 years, when the Kingdom Charter was finalized in 1954. Twelve years earlier, the Dutch monarchy had expressed its intention to revisit the relationship with its colonies, owing to pressure from the United States (Hoefte, 1996). The Charter (Statuut) embodied this shift and presented a unique answer to the colonial question, distinguishing the Dutch from other colonial powers of the era (Corbin, 2012).…”

“Upside Down Decolonization” in Subnational Island Jurisdictions: Questioning the “Post” in Postcolonialism

“…During the last four decades, referenda in Niue (1974 and, the Cook Islands (1974), Mayotte (1976), the Dutch Antilles (1993), Puerto Rico (1967, 1993 (2005) have all rejected independence and typically by huge margins (Bea, 2005;Cohn, 2003;McElroy & de Albuquerque, 1996). 8 Aruba cancelled its appointment with independence in 1995, although that had been the key condition for it having been granted status aparte 9 years earlier (Hoefte, 1996). In a 2002 referendum in Gibraltar, albeit without "legal weight," a resounding 98.97% voted to endorse their current status as a U.K. Overseas Territory (BBC, 2002).…”