Aruba Parliament unanimously approves motion seeking Dutch clarification on Beatrix notes about Betico Croes

ORANJESTAD — Aruba’s Parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a motion submitted by the MEP faction, requesting that the Aruban government formally seek clarification from the Dutch government regarding controversial personal notes by Princess Beatrix about Betico Croes.

The motion, debated during Public Meeting No. 5 of November 4, 2026, refers to recently published personal notes from 1983 in which Beatrix reportedly mentioned Betico Croes with the phrase: “Buying time! He will eventually fall away. We must wait for that.” According to the motion, personal notes by Queen Juliana also contained negative references to Croes.

The motion states that these passages raise serious questions about the meaning of the word “wegvallen” and about the information the Dutch government may have possessed at the time. For that reason, Parliament considers it important to obtain clarity regarding any policy notes, scenarios, scripts or other relevant documents.

The motion instructs the Aruban government to formally request clarification from the Dutch government on the meaning of the cited passages, the information available at the time and the possible existence of official documents related to the issue. The government must also inform Parliament in writing about the responses received and the outcome of the requested inquiry.

In addition, the Speaker of Parliament is to bring the motion and the request for clarification to the attention of the Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives and the standing committee for Kingdom Relations, with a request that the matter be discussed and that clarification be sought from the Dutch government.

With the unanimous approval of the motion, Parliament has sent a clear signal that it wants full clarity on a sensitive chapter in Aruba’s political and constitutional history, especially regarding Betico Croes’ historic role in the path toward Status Aparte.