Aruba Parliament seeks Dutch explanation of Beatrix notes on Betico Croes

Aruba’s Parliament unanimously adopted a motion on Wednesday 4 November asking Prime Minister Mike Eman’s government to seek clarification from the Netherlands about personal notes written by then Queen Beatrix in 1983 concerning Aruban political leader Betico Croes. The motion was submitted by the opposition Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo, or MEP.

The motion asks what Dutch authorities knew at the time, whether documents or plans concerning Croes exist, and for Dutch archives to be examined. It requires the Eman government to report the answers and any investigation findings to Parliament in writing. Parliament’s president was also instructed to send the motion to the Dutch House of Representatives and its standing committee for Kingdom Relations.

The notes were examined in research on the Dutch Royal House’s colonial past commissioned by King Willem-Alexander. Historian Gert Oostindie reviewed Beatrix’s views on Aruba’s constitutional future. In one passage, Beatrix wrote: “Waarom moet Betico zoveel schade doen – daarop ingaan? Tijd winnen! Hij zal eens wegvallen. Dat afwachten.” An English translation provided with the research reads: “Why must Betico cause so much damage? Should we respond to that? Buy time! He will eventually fall away. Wait for that.”

According to the research, Beatrix described political developments in 1983 as “fatal” and opposed developments around Aruba’s Status Aparte. Aruba became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 1 January 1986. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten had declined to interpret the notes during a parliamentary debate, saying their full context was unclear.