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Mr Stratton

CONFIDENTIAL

pre ands

ناک است

Cariblo / Dutch Antilles

TALKS WITH DUTCH ON CARIBBEAN, 11 MAY

Ac 0201

2 1 MAY (779

1. I visited The Hague on 11 May for talks with the Batch on Caribbean affairs. The talks, which had been arranged on our initiative, had twice been postponed at the request of the Dutch. The Dutch team consisted of Ambassador Daniels, Director of the Western Hemisphere at the MFA, accompanied by Mr Van Hasselt and Mr Meys. Mr Shepherd of the Embassy accompanied

me on our side.

i.e.

2. The talks proved one thing beyond any reasonable doubt: the Dutch are simply not interested in co-operating with us or They recoiled in horror at even anyone else in the Caribbean. my most tentative suggestions of closer co-operation on security, defence, information exchanges, etc, and took refuge immediately behind the "Statute of the Realm", explaining that under the Dutch Constitution the Antilles were Realms of the Kingdom Antillean affairs were purely an internal domestic matter and that if it were to be known that they were having exchanges on Antillean affairs with an outside party there would be an uproar. Indeed, if any news of these talks were to leak out it could well lead to a breakdown of the Constitutional Working Party that was at present considering the future constitutional status of the Netherlands territories in the Caribbean.

3. My experience in The Hague has convinced me that we shall have to count the Dutch out of any future regional consultations/

They will probably agree to co-operation in the Caribbean area. a continuation of the very informal and irregular exchanges that have been taking place for the last 30 years between the French, Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and British security authorities

in the area;

and I do not exclude the possibility that the Dutch may one day seek a further round of talks with us at official

/level

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