The first Supplementary Budget of 2025 is more than a technical update. It is a political roadmap — one that reveals who gained influence this year, who lost leverage, and which sectors must brace for tough decisions ahead. Beneath the spreadsheets lies a shifting balance of power inside the government and across the island’s key institutions.

Here are the real winners and losers in Curaçao’s evolving political landscape.

WINNER: Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas — The Strategic Stabilizer 

Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas emerges as the biggest winner of the 2025 budget cycle. With a comfortable surplus of Cg 75.2 million, his government can claim fiscal responsibility while still launching high-visibility projects.

By championing:

The CELIA subsea cable,

The nationwide FAD fishing program, and

Emergency support for social projects,

Pisas has positioned himself as the leader who “solves problems” while expanding his influence across multiple ministries — including Agriculture, Environment, and Nature.

Politically, this budget reinforces Pisas as the government’s central axis.

WINNER: Ministry of Finance — Quiet Power, Major Control

Finance Minister Javier Silvania strengthens his institutional clout. The ministry’s decision to:

Mix borrowing with surplus-based investment,

Reallocate funds from shelved energy projects,

Enforce strict oversight on CMC governance,

And prioritize digital infrastructure,

shows that Finance is steering the island’s development agenda.

Every ministry that received additional funding did so only after Finance approved and structured it. In Curaçao politics, control of the cash is control of the strategy — and Silvania holds both.

WINNER: Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) — A Lifeline with Strings Attached

The Cg 145 million rescue package for CMC is historic. On paper, CMC gains breathing room:

Cg 58 million annually in structural support

Cg 111 million in capitalization

But the real winner here is not CMC — it is the government’s oversight authority.

CMC’s financing now depends on:

Full compliance with the Corporate Governance Act

State supervision over appointments

Stricter financial reporting

The hospital survives, but its autonomy shrinks. The beneficiaries are patients and staff, but politically, the government walks away with decisive leverage over the island’s largest public-service institution.

WINNER: Digital Infrastructure & Diversification

The subsea cable investment — a bold Cg 44.6 million — signals a turning point. Curaçao is positioning itself as a digital hub rather than overrelying on tourism and offshore finance.

This is a rare case in Curaçao politics where long-term strategy eclipses short-term politics. The investment could pay off for decades, and quietly, the digital sector becomes one of the major winners of this budget.

LOSER: Ministries Expecting Development Budget Expansion

Several ministries expected significant investment boosts — they didn’t get them.

Projects that depended on heavy capital expenditure were forced to:

Downscale,

Postpone,

Or be financed through internal budget reshuffling.

This is especially visible in infrastructure, education, and urban planning. While they received symbolic injections — like the Cg 1.5 million for school repairs — these amounts barely scratch the surface of long-term structural needs.

In political terms, these ministries lose momentum.  

LOSER: Public-Sector Unions — Weak Position, Limited Influence

The unions entered 2024 and early 2025 expecting leverage over salary reforms, pension law revisions, and modernization of the civil service.

The budget makes it clear:

public-sector compensation reform is not the government’s priority this cycle.

Instead:

Salary adjustments were financed internally.

No major structural reforms were budgeted.

Unions face delays in negotiations and unclear documentation. 

The message is unmistakable: government is choosing capital projects and financial stability over wage-driven politics. For the unions, this budget cycle is a political setback.

LOSER: Long-Term Energy Transition Plans By r

eallocating Cg 29 million away from the Floating Offshore Wind project, the government acknowledges what many already suspected: Curaçao’s energy transition is stalled.

Green energy ambitions were pushed aside for digital infrastructure. It’s not doom — but it signals that renewable energy has lost political priority in 2025.

In the hierarchy of urgency, climate and energy take a back seat to connectivity and healthcare.

MIXED RESULTS: Social Sector and Food Security

Yes, the government supported:

Pasku Fiesta di Lus (Cg 850,000),

Traditional fishermen through FAD investment,

Community events and small-scale projects.

But large systemic programs — poverty reduction, welfare modernization, comprehensive social reforms — did not receive major budget boosts. These sectors remain in maintenance mode.

The government prevents deterioration, but stops short of transformative investment.

THE FINAL SCORE: Stability Over Transformation

The 2025 budget reveals a government prioritizing:

Stability over experimentation

Infrastructure over bureaucracy

Digital projects over green energy

Controlled oversight over institutional autonomy

The winners are the sectors that align with this vision. The losers are those who expected structural, long-term reforms.

But politically?

This is a budget that strengthens the executive, tightens control over institutions, and positions Curaçao to enter 2026 with a more assertive—some critics would say centralized—governance model.

For better or worse, the message is clear: This government is choosing consolidation, not reinvention.