Public Roles Aparte?

Following a request to research the history of the public roles of Dutch marines based at the Marines Barracks Savaneta on Aruba, the choice had been made to make a comparison between the period before and after the Aruban ‘Status Aparte’ of 1986. The expectation was that, just as with the creation of the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954, one of the biggest events in Aruban history would be equally of influence on the public roles. The public roles in the context of this thesis entail, contrary to the task of territorial defence, the services that the Dutch marines provide for the general public on a day to day basis. These can vary from the tasks they have to do for the Aruban government, to the things they do for the ordinary civilians. The tasks are: assisting the police, assisting the coastguard, providing humanitarian aid and participating in ceremonial duties. These services are provided on request of the governor, which Aruba has since 1986. The things they do for ordinary civilians, the so called roles are: practicing social outreach and organising events at the base. These aspects are just as important as their tasks, due to their role as Dutch ambassadors on Aruba, there are expected to adhere to that role. This role fulfilment in turn leads to a good base of support for their tasks, making it beneficial for all parties involved. These tasks and roles combined form the term public roles. The enactment of the ‘Status Aparte’, where Aruba separated from the influence of Curaçao and became a separate nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was of influence on the public roles. The fact that they gained their own governor, made the line of communication shorter than before, thus were aid requests more efficient. The fact that Aruba did not only gain their own governor, but also their own parliament, made the relationship between the marines and local politics more direct. This makes the appreciation of the marines more susceptible for political agendas. Though by gaining the special status, were political demonstrations that necessitated police assistance something of the past. More changes in the public roles before and after 1986 can be seen, but those cannot bet attributed to the ‘Status Aparte’, but rather to external changes. Environmental disasters and growing drug trafficking in the region changed the priority of police assistance, to one of assisting the coastguard and providing humanitarian aid. Whereas the end of the Cold War limited the available resources to fulfil the roles for civilians, which changed their nature from showing to more supporting in terms of charity events, did the appreciation remain.