CARACAS, WILLEMSTAD - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that he wants to re-establish ties with Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire. According to him, Venezuela regards the population of the three islands as "brothers and sisters". There is "a lot of love between the countries," said Maduro. He has instructed his staff to re-establish links in the areas of communication, transport, trade, and culture. He said this during an international press conference in Caracas, to a question from a Curaçao reporter.
Maduro gave this assignment to his employees after Robert Schuddeboom presented his credentials in Caracas on Tuesday 27 October as the new ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. According to Maduro, he has said that the problems with the Dutch Caribbean islands must be resolved and the ties must be strengthened again.
Relations between Venezuela and the ABC islands have been at a low point for some time. Even before the start of the corona crisis, there was hardly any air and shipping traffic between Venezuela and the ABC islands. In February last year, the Netherlands recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the leader of Venezuela after Maduro was accused of fraud in the last presidential election. But according to Maduro, the real reason for the break lies with White House special envoy for Venezuela and Iran, Eliott Abrams. According to Maduro, this has driven a wedge between Venezuela and the Dutch Caribbean islands. And he now wants to repair that break.
