WASHINGTON, WILLEMSTAD – The Kingdom of the Netherlands needs to give its Caribbean border the same geopolitical attention it gives its borders in Europe, according to Curaçao’s Minister Plenipotentiary in the United States, Jérôme Beeldsnijder.
In a new publication titled “The Kingdom’s Border Is Not Only in Europe – The Geopolitical Significance of Curaçao,” Beeldsnijder argues that Curaçao’s small size should not obscure its strategic importance. Geography, he says, can give small countries significance far beyond their physical or economic size.
His argument comes at a time when Venezuela, the United States and changing relations between Washington and Europe are increasingly influencing the strategic environment surrounding the Dutch Caribbean.
Beeldsnijder says discussions about European strategic autonomy from the United States cannot be considered exclusively from a European perspective. Decisions affecting the transatlantic relationship can also have consequences for the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom.
“The Kingdom’s border in the Caribbean also requires an equal geopolitical approach,” he writes.
According to Beeldsnijder, political and economic developments in and around Venezuela have made the Caribbean dimension of the Kingdom increasingly visible on the geopolitical map.
The Minister Plenipotentiary points to a recently adopted motion in the Dutch House of Representatives submitted by MPs Hoogeveen and Nanninga. The motion calls on the Dutch government to consult within the Kingdom on better positioning Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire to take advantage of diplomatic and economic opportunities connected to Venezuela’s recovery.
According to the publication, the motion was adopted by a large majority and recognizes the islands’ strategic location and their potential role as a bridge to Venezuela.
For Curaçao, Beeldsnijder argues, these geopolitical developments are anything but abstract.
“What happens in Venezuela can have consequences for Curaçao,” he writes. Decisions in Washington can affect the island’s economy, security and international position, while decisions in Europe about strategic autonomy can influence how the Kingdom approaches its Caribbean borders.
He stresses that Curaçao is not an isolated island but part of an interconnected geopolitical environment involving South America, the Caribbean, the United States and Europe.
The Caribbean border of the Kingdom, he argues, lies immediately off the South American continent and within the United States’ sphere of influence. Developments there consequently affect not only Curaçao and the other Caribbean parts of the Kingdom but also the Kingdom’s broader security, stability and international position.
Beeldsnijder believes this reality should result in a stronger Caribbean voice in Kingdom foreign policy.
According to him, discussions about the future of the Kingdom should therefore include Curaçao not as a peripheral territory or merely a strategic location useful to others, but as a country with its own society, interests, expertise and opportunities.