Under the premise of normalizing -eventually- the commercial relations between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Vice-minister for Europe of the People’s Power Ministry for Foreign Relations, Yván Gil, in the company of the Vice-minister for Cooperation Economics, Ramón Gordils, and Guillermo Lara, Vice-minister for Foreign Trade of the People’s Power Ministry for Economy, Finance and Foreign Trade, held a meeting with the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Netherlands, Robert Shuddeboom.
At the working meeting held in the Simón Bolívar Room of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, the representatives discussed and exchanged information of common interest. Likewise, they evaluated the steps to be followed in the diplomatic channel to initiate a normalization process in what has to do with the flow of trade and people to the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire in order to favor alliances of friendship for the benefit of both peoples.
It should be noted that, at the end of October, the new Head of the Dutch Diplomatic Mission, Robert Schuddeboom, presented to Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, the Cabinet Letters that accredit him as Charge d’Affaires of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Venezuela.
Cooperation links between Venezuela and the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Bilateral relations between Venezuela and the Netherlands are characterized by their dynamism and strategic importance, especially given the neighboring situation with the ABC islands, however, they have been marked in recent years by ups and downs between cooperation and conflict.
Regarding cooperation between the Netherlands and Venezuela, although it can be very extense, it has focused in recent times on issues such as agriculture, defense, drugs, migration and customs, suffering, in recent years, a kind of stagnation given the current political relationship and the effects of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States Government that have reduced the capacity for commercial and / or business exchange with international partners, as well as the effects of extraction smuggling.
However, it is an aspect of the bilateral relationship that takes on special importance for both countries due to the shared borders in the Caribbean with the islands belonging to the Kingdom, with which an active commercial exchange was traditionally maintained that involved the transport of agricultural products, passengers, etc.