Helmin Wiels, the leader of the largest political party in Curaçao's Parliament, was shot and killed while buying fish on a beach. He was a vocal campaigner against corruption. Two brothers were arrested in connection with uploading a threatening video, but the murder appears to have been a professional hit as the killers knew Wiels' movements and routine. Curaçao has unstable politics, shaky finances, drug crime, and corruption despite receiving debt relief from the Netherlands in 2010 when it gained self-government. Wiels' murder has further spotlighted these issues facing the small island nation.

1. Curaçao’s big man shot dead
Why? And what’s next?
Published:
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Mark Wilson
Why? And what’s next?
Mark Wilson
Published:
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Helmin Wiel, right, and Gerrit Schotte in happier times.
Around five o’clock last Sunday afternoon, Helmin Wiels bought fish on Marie Pampoen beach
in Curaçao. Before he could pocket his change, a gunman fired five times. Hit in the back, he
died fast. Wiels was leader of Pueblo Soberano, the largest party in Curaçao’s Parliament, with
five of the 21 seats. Aged 54, he had been in politics for ten years, after a career in social work.
Ronald Plasterk, the Dutch minister who handles relations with the island, last week called him
“the most powerful man in Curaçao.”

2. He was a fierce campaigner against corruption, with strong grassroots support and a weekly
radio slot. He railed also against other targets—political opponents, Dutch expats, alleged
mafia members, drug dealers, and the US counter-narcotics planes at Hato Airport. A regular
presence at early morning mass in the Catholic cathedral, Wiels did not spare his church. Three
days before his death, he said that he intended to expose alleged illegalities linked to the use
of text messages for the sale of lottery tickets.
The murder left the country stunned. The streets went dead at nightfall. A small crowd
applauded the dead man as his body left the beach under police escort. Some wept.
Supporters lit candles. A sad bunch of flowers marked the killing site. Why was Helmin Weils
killed? The non-party Prime Minister, Daniel Hodge is cautious. He told Dutch journalists:
“There are a lot of speculations. I cannot join them.” But he added, “Probably it has to do with
the statements of Mr Wiels in the past period.”
Two brothers, aged 19 and 27, were arrested on Tuesday. They had uploaded a YouTube video
which threatened more deaths (don’t bother to look: it’s mostly a black screen, with a
soundtrack in the local language, Papiamento).
It is not clear that they are the assassins. The killing looks like a long-planned professional job.
It was fast and efficient, with no collateral damage from stray bullets. The murderers knew
Wiels’ movements. They picked a Sunday, the day he dropped his bodyguards. Buying fish at
Marie Pampoen was a weekly routine.
The police are not saying much. Two dozen witnesses were on the beach—but most are not
talking. An accomplice drove off with the shooter in a gold-coloured car. It has not been
traced. Some look for clues in a number-play with four fives—five o’clock on May 5, with five
bullets.
Curaçao is a pretty little island, 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Its clear waters, sunny
climate and the bustling historic city of Willemstad pulled more than 400,000 tourists last year.
The other money-spinner is an oil refinery, leased to Venezuela’s PdVSA. October 2010 marked
a bright new dawn. Curaçao won self-government, or status aparte as one of four theoretically
equal constituents of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, alongside Aruba, the Dutch half of St
Maarten, and the European Netherlands. A Dutch relief package cleared most of Curaçao’s
debts.
At first glance, all looks well. But the killing spotlights unstable politics, shaky public finances,
large-scale drug crime and corruption. In the Netherlands tradition of proportional
representation, any party with more than 5 per cent of the national vote gets a seat. Then the

3. fun starts, as rivals jockey for power.
In 2010, Wiels’ Pueblo Soberano joined a ruling coalition with two other parties. The new
prime minister, 36-year-old Gerrit Schotte, was a dashing but controversial figure with a
Colombian mother, and ethnically one of Curaçao’s white minority.
There were concerns when his government disbanded the national security service, which
gathered data on organised crime and the drug trade. Nobody was entirely sure what
happened to its files. There was controversy over a proposed appointment to the central bank.
Last year, two members of Parliament crossed the floor. Fearing a no-confidence vote, the
Speaker did not convene the House. To resolve the crisis, a temporary non-political Cabinet
was appointed, with fresh elections called for October. After the poll, Wiels dumped Schotte
to form a new coalition with 11 of the 21 seats. A further reshuffle is due. The long-suffering
Hodge wants to step down from his post as soon he can.
In spite of the Dutch 2010 bailout, public finances are a mess. The central bank said last year
that it had lost track of government debt. In July, the Kingdom Council, where Caribbean
representatives sit with the Dutch Cabinet, formally instructed Curaçao to balance its budget.
In today’s Curaçao, the dread word is Mafia. The US State Department reported in March that
fishing boats from Colombia and Venezuela bring cocaine destined for the USA and Europe,
adding that Curaçao lacks the capacity to “address endemic drug-related crime, violence, and
corruption.” Last December, armed bandits dressed as police raided a messy Guyanese fishing
boat moored in Curaçao. They seized US$11.5 million in gold. Seven suspects were later held.
Some of the gold was recovered in Puerto Rico.
Like Wiels’ death, that crime remains a mystery.
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