RKCS Calls for National Plan to Address Teacher Shortage in Curaçao

Gibi Bacilio, president of the Association for the Promotion of Historical Awareness (APKI), is reflecting on 40 years of work advocating for greater historical consciousness in Curaçao. Speaking in Willemstad, Bacilio acknowledges that the island has made meaningful progress in recognizing historical figures like Tula and in the broader fight against the legacy of slavery. However, he argues that the deeper emancipation of the Curaçaoan people remains unrealized. For Bacilio, true emancipation is inseparable from independence — a statement that carries both cultural and political weight on the island. His remarks come as Curaçao continues to grapple with its colonial history and its current status as a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. APKI has long pushed for stronger public education and awareness around the island's slave history. Bacilio's four-decade perspective offers a sobering assessment of how far Curaçao has — and has not — come.

The College financieel toezicht (Cft), the financial oversight body for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, has determined that Bonaire's proposed 2026 budget does not adequately reflect the island's actual spending and revenue patterns. The Cft issued the assessment after reviewing the budget submission, finding a disconnect between projected figures and real-world financial activity. This kind of finding is significant because Bonaire, as a special municipality of the Netherlands, is subject to strict fiscal oversight to ensure sound public finances. The Cft's role is to monitor whether the islands maintain balanced and credible budgets, and a negative assessment typically requires the island government to revise and resubmit its financial plans. Until the budget is brought into closer alignment with realistic income and expenditure figures, it risks failing to meet the standards required under Dutch financial supervision rules. The determination puts pressure on Bonaire's government to make meaningful adjustments before the budget can be approved.

A Hong Kong court on Friday found two activists guilty of sedition for organizing an annual public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The activists had been holding the vigils to mark the date when Chinese authorities violently cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing. Hong Kong was once the only place on Chinese soil where such a large-scale public remembrance was legally permitted. The conviction signals a continued tightening of political freedoms in Hong Kong following the implementation of the National Security Law in 2020. The annual candlelight vigil, which previously drew tens of thousands of attendees, has effectively been shut down in recent years under authorities' pressure. The ruling is seen as part of a broader pattern of prosecuting civil society figures and suppressing dissent in the territory. The outcome carries significant implications for freedom of expression and assembly in Hong Kong.