Dutch Navy monitoring Caribbean waters as tensions rise between U.S., Venezuela
The Dutch soldiers stationed on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are scaling back their counterdrug operations in favor of monitoring the Caribbean waters. Rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States are causing anxiety in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Wouter Veenendaal, endowed professor of Kingdom Relations, told the Telegraaf after a visit to the islands.
According to Veenendaal, the massive American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is clearly visible from Curaçao. “It’s the talk of the town on all three islands.” There’s a great deal of uncertainty, Veenendaal said. “People are groping in the dark about the situation. Aruba and Curaçao don’t have control over their own defense policy; that’s up to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Dutch Ministry of Defense is responsible. But local politicians feel that the Hague isn’t providing enough information.”
The United States has conducted a series of attacks on alleged drug smugglers, whom the Trump administration has labeled “terrorists.” About 80 people have been killed. An American attack on Venezuela doesn’t seem out of the question, and the Dutch islands worry that Venezuela will move on them for extra ground before that happens. “On the islands, they feel like they’re a plaything between two unpredictable major powers,” Veenendaal said.
The Netherlands has around 600 soldiers stationed on the islands, primarily occupied with counterdrug operations in the area. And that’s continuing, but the naval ship Zr.Ms. Groningen, in particular, has shifted to monitoring the situation. “We are monitoring the situation very closely,” a Navy spokesperson told the newspaper. “The Netherlands is not receiving information from either side, so it’s important to gather intelligence ourselves.”
On his last day of the state visit to Suriname, King Willem-Alexander also expressed concerns about what’s happening in the Caribbean. “We are very concerned about what is happening there,” the Dutch King said. He said he hoped that “international law will be upheld and that proper consideration will be given to how we can protect each other from the abuses that can also affect our islands.”
