Dear Editor,
Cycling across sandy roads in the scorching heat. Between towering coral cliffs, artistically sculpted by the eternal wind. Between thriving mangrove forests and infinite salt marshes. Where menacing cacti are standing beside enchanting trees.
It can all be found in the western part of the Netherlands - in the far west to be clear. Where you can swim with tropical fish, which sway with you to the rhythm of the waves. Where people give you a friendly smile - and take life as it comes. Heavy divers popping up as stiff seals out of the blue sea. Older surfers experience their childhood once again in the timeless sunlight. You see it on Bonaire - The Netherlands in the Caribbean.
But the paradise of Bonaire – like St. Eustatius and Saba since 2010 part of the Netherlands as a public entity - also has a black edge. The island is a small community (fewer than 20,000 inhabitants), but there are significant differences. Along the coast are the million-dollar villas, of which there are few earned with honest work. Not far from there are poor neighbourhoods, where there is little work and not a lot to earn. There is a lot of anger because 'the Dutch' arrange everything. But if they don’t, not much would be done. Poverty is also brought up all the time. So many young people do not have employment, but jobs are done by people from outside - from Venezuela, Colombia and Peru - who are underpaid and exploited.
Recently, Bonaire was shocked by the murder of a policeman, an act that might have been committed by a drug trafficker, who also works for the drug mafia in Colombia. During my stay last week on this beautiful island, there were several shootings, nearby where I was staying. The car of a critical journalist was destroyed - a form of harassment.
Other great villains are the banks, which extend expensive loans for too expensive cars that people cannot afford. And there are the Chinese supermarkets, which lend people money at high interest rates. This leads to debts and feeds the anger towards the Netherlands. With signs along the roads where unsuspecting tourists are accused of ‘Dutch apartheid’.
Since 1633, when our country conquered Bonaire from the Spaniards, we belong together, but we still do not understand each other. But that doesn’t really matter, because deep down we love each other - otherwise we would not make such a hassle. Because this is our "Island in the Sun" as Harry Belafonte sang 60 years ago. A song in which the American calypso king sang about his love for our Bonaire. With all the money he earned from this worldwide hit, Belafonte bought property in Bonaire, where even a residential area (Belnem) was named after him. And so love became money again and the Caribbean circle is round again. In this paradise, but always elusive, as part of the Netherlands.
Ronald van Raak
Member of the Second Chamber of the
Dutch Parliament for the Socialist Party (SP)
