Dutch PM won't jump to conclusions over fatal U.S. attacks on alleged drug boats

Dick Schoof is not yet passing judgment on the boats that the United States recently attacked. Dozens of passengers on suspected drug boats have been killed since early September. The caretaker Dutch Prime Minister does not want to draw “quick conclusions” about this, he told ANP.

The topic was discussed at the summit between the European Union and Latin American countries in Santa Marta, Colombia, which Schoof attended on Sunday. The countries at the summit agreed that tensions should not escalate further, according to the Prime Minister.

“Someone somewhere will probably initiate proceedings to determine whether this is legitimate,” Schoof said about the attacks on the boats. “It’s always complicated to examine that in detail. As a Cabinet, we haven’t taken a position on this yet.”

Schoof stressed that the U.S. is an “important partner” in military and economic matters. “That means we are in constant dialogue with America and trying to determine the Americans’ actual intentions regarding what they are doing now.”

The Prime Minister denied that the Netherlands’ economic and military dependence makes it reluctant to criticize the U.S. “No, absolutely not. That has nothing to do with it. You can also be critical of your partner countries. We are critical within the EU, we are critical internationally. But that’s different from jumping to conclusions.”

Before arriving in Colombia, the Prime Minister visited Aruba and Curaçao. These islands are close to Venezuela, the country Trump is specifically targeting. Schoof noted that there are “concerns among the populations” of the two countries within the Kingdom. “Then it’s important that we, as the Netherlands and as the Kingdom, can say that we are in no way involved in the activities that America is currently conducting.”