A Blind Man Can See June 13, 2026 Today, I attended the Town Hall Meeting on the future of the Caracasbaai Peninsula after all. It was worse than I had expected. During the opening presentation, Maripampoen was showcased as a shining example of successful development. That surprised me. Maripampoen is, after all, a project that causes parking problems day and night. Parts of the area flood during almost every heavy rainfall. Along the coastline, large rocks have been pl

TGF June 12, 2026 Today is Friday. Thank God. Yesterday, the World Cup officially kicked off. The Curaçao flag waved proudly among the flags of the other participating nations. On Sunday, Curaçao will play its first match against Germany. The lucky fans are heading to Houston. There is no overwhelming euphoria and no palpable tension. Instead, a serene silence is emerging. It is as if everything is being filtered for a moment. The issues that occupy our daily lives te

Sneaky June 11, 2026 Today I received a digital flyer inviting me to a Town Hall Meeting about the development of Caracas Bay. The meeting will take place on Saturday, June 13, at 9:00 a.m., exactly one day before Curaçao makes its World Cup debut. A coincidence? I do not believe so. The entire country is currently consumed by World Cup fever. That is precisely why it is remarkable that a meeting about one of Curaçao’s most sensitive spatial development projects is bein

Mama Wa June 10, 2026 Tomorrow, the World Cup kicks off again, and our attention will likely be focused on little else. Today, I saw no response to my comments about the usefulness—or rather, the foolishness—of developing a new Curaçao 2050 Vision under the current government. The reaction was that it might not be such a bad idea after all to look back at everything we have achieved, including the Blue Wave’s participation in the World Cup, and then consider what we can

Vision Curaçao June 9, 2026 Today I heard a call from the Prime Minister inviting citizens to participate in the visioning process for Curaçao. Through various channels, people would be able to contribute their ideas about what they would like Curaçao to look like in, for example, 2050. I have written about this before. The essence of my criticism is that there appears to have been little consideration of the many previous attempts to develop a national vision. Curaçao

Bread and Circuses, Summer Time, and the Silly Season June 8, 2026 Perhaps it escaped your attention, but summer began on June 1 and will end on August 31. The hurricane season also started on that date, although it will continue longer, until November 30. It is also the silly season. Politicians usually understand that better than anyone. The cabinet, for example, quietly announced a 48-day recess, running from June 4 through July 15. And this is no ordinary summer.

Curaçao versus Aruba June 6, 2026 Today, the Curaçao Blue Wave plays its farewell match on the road to the 2026 World Cup against Aruba. Given the way football is nowadays, I do not assume that Curaçao will simply win this home game with ease. Aruba has also been making steady progress and has clearly improved over the past few years. But that is not really what I want to talk about. The two islands are far more alike than many people realize. We often pay more attent

Blue Wave and the Tsunami Yet to Come June 5, 2026 Perhaps you noticed, perhaps you did not, but I have not written for a few days. It is Friday, the day before the Blue Wave's farewell match against Aruba on its way to the World Cup. A few weeks ago, I wrote I Am Leaving. In that piece, I explained that while I may physically be here, my work is currently elsewhere. That is what has occupied much of my attention over the past few days. But now, a brief reflection. I

Agriculture Is the Future June 2, 2026 I recently wrote three articles about agriculture and food security (Goede, 2025a; Goede, 2025b; Goede, 2025c). In those articles, I argued that Curaçao rarely considers the agricultural sector as a new economic pillar in the diversification of our economy, which remains heavily dependent on tourism. I also argued that agriculture certainly offers opportunities, but not in the way some people imagine. It is unrealistic to expect the agri

Monday Blues May 31, 2026 Today is Sunday, May 31, and tomorrow will be Monday, June 1, 2026. For many people, that means Monday Blues. The year is already nearly halfway gone, and June will be the month of the 2026 World Cup. To be honest, I already have a touch of the Sunday Blues. At the same time, the word blue has taken on a completely different meaning for us. We are not living on a pink cloud, but on a blue one. Ever since our national team, affectionately know

30 May 2026 May 30, 2026 On Thursday, May 28, during the weekly shopping night, the city was illuminated in blue and World Cup fever truly began to take hold. Nationalism and patriotism are running high. This celebration will not end with Curaçao’s eventual elimination from the tournament; its effects will linger long afterward. We are rightly proud and, for several weeks, we will be part of the world's headlines. People who have never heard of Curaçao will now hear our n

The Pope Warns About AI May 28, 2026 Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of AI in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is not that AI is inherently bad. On the contrary, he acknowledges its enormous benefits. His concerns focus primarily on how AI may be used and on its broader societal consequences. The key points are: 1. AI Concentrates Power The Pope warns that AI could further concentrate power in the hands of a small number of large technology companies, governments,

Offline Knows Who You Are May 28, 2026 On Wednesday, after my meeting with my accountability partner, I walked through the mall toward my car in the parking lot. There I saw a lady who had once told me that she reads my pieces every single day. She never leaves a like, by the way, so I always took it with a grain of salt. This time, she called out to me and asked why I had not published anything yet that day. And she was right. So she really does read my writing every d

When Intangible Heritage Disappears, a People Dies May 27, 2026 In 2019, the government sold our telecommunications company UTS, including its infrastructure and everything connected to it. Seven years later, almost everyone seems to agree that this did not turn out to be a success story. The island is now left with a telecommunications sector that, according to many, is badly in need of improvement. Now, I do not want to claim that UTS itself was intangible heritage. A

We Must Not Become Powerless and Discouraged May 26, 2025 I started Monday full of energy and drive. After answering some emails, I picked up my wife and drove her to the car rental company because her car is in the garage. On the way home, I stopped briefly at our beach, Caracas Bay. Suddenly, a large truck carrying enormous boulders drove in front of me. Instinctively, I thought: how strange. After greeting the sea for a moment from inside the car, I made a U-turn t

From Efficient Service to Experience May 23, 2026 Recently, I had to get my car inspected because, while waiting for my new license plates to arrive, my inspection card had expired, and I had failed to pay attention to renewing it on time. So I ended up having to pay the higher fee. I made an appointment online. About ten years ago, the inspection office was so organized that you would actually receive a letter inviting you to bring in your car for inspection before the c

Repetition of Talk May 22, 2026 The Antilliaans Dagblad extensively reports on a session organized by the Curaçao Hospitality and Tourism Association (Chata) about the future of tourism. There is discussion about sustainability, balance, quality over quantity, carrying capacity, infrastructure, and the well-being of the population. All understandable and, in themselves, valid points. But honestly, I read very little that is truly new. It reminds me of Chata’s cri de cœu

Politics Is Entertainment May 21, 2026 Several years ago, I wrote that politics follows the same pattern as a reality show, where at the end of each episode, viewers decide which participant should be sent home. Part of the game is the entire media ecosystem surrounding it, constantly commenting on the game and on the decisions being made. We are seeing that, once again, this is now happening with the election of a new board member for a political party. It is pure ente

The Heat Is On May 19, 2026 It is hot. The Meteorological Service warns that it will only get hotter in the coming days. And in just over three weeks, the 2026 World Cup will begin. Preparations for the celebration are starting. Curaçao has, in many ways, already won by qualifying. From this point on, it is mostly about enjoying and celebrating the fact that we are part of it. Anything beyond that is a bonus. As long as the tournament lasts — and that will probably be

Those Without Youth Have No Future May 18, 2026 I read that, according to Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, the number of births continues to decline. At the same time, many young people leave for abroad to pursue their studies. This demographic decline among the young further accelerates the aging of our society. We also see that the education system often does not equip young people adequately for the future. More and more children are ending up in special education