TNAG-0834-FCO40-1042-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Office-seminar-on-the-future-of-Bri-1979 — Page 73

CONFIDENTIAL

(w/109)

Background Note

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES:

General background

1. The Netherlands Antilles consist of three tiny islands off the Coast of Venezuela: Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire and three even smaller islands

in the windward group: Saint Maarten, St Eustatius and Saba. The two most important islands however are Aruba (24 square miles in area and

Wrong! population (16,000) and Curaçao (178 square miles in area and

population 45,000).

Political/Economic

2.

In 1954 the Antilles were granted autonomy by the Netherlands and

became a member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The autonomous status

related however only to domestic affairs, all foreign affairs and defence still being the responsibility of the Kingdom; justice and human rights are also Kingdom concerns. queen Juliana of the Netherlands is represented in the Antilles by an appointed Governor. The Head of Government is the Prime Minister, HLA

3. The internal affairs of the Antilles are the responsibility of the Central Government which comprises a Council of Ministers and a 22- Member Parliament, elected every four years. Each of the island territories has its own administration or island government.

4.

The future of these islands is very cloudy. The population, which does not exceed 250,000, does not want the independence that is apparently being thrust upon it by The Hague. (Constitutionally, the Hague cannot give independence to the Antilles in view of their status as Realms of the Kingdom: it is however open to the islands to ask for independence from the Netherlands.) A Kingdom Working Group (chaired by ex-Dutch Prime Minister Barend Bieshuvel, is at present looking into relations

between the islands and the Netherlands and the Netherlands Government

hopes that the group will produce at least an interim report by 1981 on the islands future status. Independence may thus come sometime in the early 1980s when a new mini-State - "Caribbia" is the name favoured by the local politicians is likely to emerge, but until the inhabitants can be absolutely certain of their security, both politically and economically, after independence, they are likely to drag their feet in negotiations with the Dutch Government for as long as possible.

down

5. Economically the islands are fearful of losing Dutch aid (which at present is being pumped into the Antilles at the rate of about £25 million a year) and they are determined to ensure that post-independence aid should continue at much the same level. (The Dutch privately concede that they

CONFIDENTIAL

/may