WILLEMSTAD – Cooperation within the Kingdom's security system is being hindered by the fact that Dutch intelligence agencies regard the security services of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten as foreign institutions, according to a new geopolitical resilience study.
The report says the approach affects trust and information-sharing at a time when the Caribbean is becoming increasingly important in discussions about geopolitical competition, foreign interference, organized crime and critical infrastructure.
According to the researchers, the AIVD and MIVD consider the security bodies of the three autonomous Caribbean countries foreign services because they operate under separate constitutional jurisdictions.
The report argues that this creates practical obstacles to cooperation within a Kingdom that simultaneously shares responsibility for foreign affairs and defense.
Researchers recommend reviewing the legal and institutional framework governing security monitoring and cooperation across all six Dutch Caribbean islands.
The issue has become more important as global competition involving the United States and China increasingly reaches the Caribbean and as Venezuela continues to affect regional security.
The report says small island governments cannot realistically maintain every specialized intelligence, cybersecurity and financial investigation capability independently.
Closer information-sharing could therefore allow the four countries of the Kingdom to identify foreign interference, economic dependencies and threats to critical infrastructure earlier.
However, the authors stress that greater cooperation must respect the autonomy of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten.
They recommend placing Dutch Caribbean geopolitical resilience permanently on the Kingdom agenda through the Four-Country Consultation at prime-minister level and regular meetings involving the Ministries of Justice and Defense.
The report also proposes a role for the four parliaments and the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO).
Ultimately, the researchers argue that Curaçao's security cannot be treated as entirely separate from European Dutch security, while The Hague should also avoid using geopolitical concerns to disregard the constitutional responsibilities of the autonomous Caribbean countries.