An Independent Sint Maarten Inevitable : Caribean Hegemony already a reality in CARICOM, OECS and OAS.
ST PETERS--The Independence for St. Martin Foundation headed by Jose Lake JR, said they welcomed the statement from members of the Dutch Second Chamber Andre Bosman (VVD) and Ronald van Raak (SP) about the Foundation’s intention to approach the United Nations (UN) to facilitate the exit of Curaçao, Aruba, and St. Maarten from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Foundation sees this as a welcome development and agrees with the position of both Dutch legislators that the current constitutional arrangement within the Kingdom is not final.
The Foundation referred to a report in De Antilliaans Dagblad newspaper of July 12, 2017, in which Bosman was quoted as saying: “The Kingdom Charter is not final but an intermediate solution to be seen as a transfer phase. The Netherlands is obligated by the UN charter to develop a system of self-government which would lead the countries into full independence.”
“This has been our position since we were established in 1994,” the Foundation said.
The Foundation further expressed the hope that the Dutch Government’s promise to take the “pulse” of the people of St. Maarten would not mean just talking to a few politicians and public office holders but actually “finding out the wishes of the people of St. Martin via a constitutional referendum.”
The Foundation recalled that it has been pushing for a referendum on independence for the last three years, arguing that the last constitutional referendum in the territory was held 17 years ago.
“We have met on several occasions with the Parliament of St. Martin which has the constitutional authority to convene a new referendum, and remain confident that Parliament will do so as soon as possible,” the Foundation stated.
The Foundation said it is ready and willing to work with Bosman, Van Raak and all people of good will, both here on St. Maarten and in the wider Dutch Kingdom and beyond, to achieve the goal of full political independence for St. Maarten in a responsible and democratic way.
I have written extensively on Sint Maarten independence, which is an existential necessity that will be realized not as a result of the meanderings of a few Europeans in the Hague, or elsewhere in Europe but as a result of the myriad, socio-political, economic, security and environmental issues that the Caribbean as a whole is faced with presently.
The region cannot exist in contemporary times as a disjointed entity, with different economic, political agendas; the hegemogenization of the Caribbean is already increasingly becoming a reality.
CARICOM, the OECS, OAS et.al are examples of regional hegemony, these unions will only solidify and increase in years to come. Sint Maarten and the other islands that formed the former Netherlands Antilles are Caribbean islands that can ill afford to benefit from CARICOM and the OECS. The values of the US, Europe, and Canada are increasingly detrimental to Caribbean economic and social development, Caribbean hegemony and the politics of the 21st century are forcing the region to unite, Sint Maarten’s independence is only an inevitability in the present scenario. We the ‘conscious’ citizens welcome an independent Sint Maarten, a true res Republica!
Related links http://nazaritze-lionzman.blogspot.com/2011/05/the-case-for-independent-sint-maarten.html
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