Since 1999, The Netherlands has been leasing two airfields in the Caribbean to the American army. The US uses the two bases off the coast of Venezuela - on the Aruba and Curaçao islands - to monitor and intercept drug transports. The bases are part of a larger group of US military facilities set up over the past decade to fight the 'war on drugs'. The ten-year lease is now up, which means that the Dutch government has to decide whether to continue with the arrangement.

By Wilbert van der Zeijden, for NRCNext Newspaper (translated from Dutch)

The Dutch government's silence on the matter most certainly means it plans to extend the lease. The absence of a debate is lamentable as there are enough reasons to question the functionality, necessity and consequences of the US…...

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