BP5- Introduction

Freedom! Think of it as a sixteen-year old who finally gets to have the freedom of driving. Driving down the road on their own, having the time of their lives feeling totally free, only to have to go back home to their parent’s house. At their parent’s house they are still just completely dependent teenagers, with the privilege of driving.  This mid-level independence is essentially the same scenario that the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao have been in for decades politically. They want independence, the parent country of The Netherlands wants the islands to be able to succeed on their own, exactly like the sixteen-year old with a driver’s license. Aruba and Curacao have their own local governments, so they are the siblings that have cars. Bonaire is still a direct municipality of The Netherlands, which makes them the little sibling that is stuck at home waiting to be driven to where they need to go. Over the last few decades, complete independence from their parent country has proved very difficult because their local economic stability is tied into The Kingdom of The Netherlands. Past attempts have caused social unrest between the limited local governments and the residents. Also, the small island governments are financially dependent on the large government of The Kingdom of The Netherlands.