Cruz, Betiko

Gilberto Francois "Betico" Cruz was born in the city of Santa Cruz, Aruba on January 25, 1938. After receiving his secondary education, he went to the Netherlands to continue his studies, where he entered Hilversum Teachers' Training College , the city of Hilversum . In 1959, he graduated with the diploma of “head master” and the right to hold the position - the director of the school. Upon returning to Aruba, Betiko Cruz taught at the St. Joseph School (Sint Jozef School), and later at St. Anthony's College in the city of Santa Cruz. During the road accident on December 31, 1985, Betiko Cruz was seriously injured and fell into a coma . Without regaining consciousness, eleven months later, he died at the age of 48 years. ^[2]

Since 1967 he began to engage in political activities. The first step was to join the Arubaanse Volks Partij (AVP) . However, due to insurmountable disagreements with her leadership, he ceased his membership. In 1971, he decided to create his own party - Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo (MEP) . From that moment until his death, he was its permanent president and party leader. Despite this, he was never an elected member of the Aruban parliament or minister in the cabinet of the Netherlands Antilles. However, due to his great political influence, Betico Cruz worked as an advisor on general issues in the coalition government of the island of Aruba.

The main political goal of Betiko Cruz was to provide Aruba with independence from the Netherlands Antilles, but to remain part of the Netherlands. In 1976, he launched an initiative to develop and introduce his own anthem and flag of Aruba ^[1] . Together with the other members of his party (MEP), Betiko Cruz organized and held a referendum on recognizing the independence of the island. With a turnout of 82%, the number of people supporting this initiative reached 57%. Later, on October 10, 2010, the Netherlands abolished the Netherlands Antilles and granted Aruba the status of a self-governing state with significant autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( status aparte ).

In 1977, when (MEP), as the majority party in Aruba, was expelled from the government, Betiko Cruz called on the people of Aruba to revolt against Curaçao. The situation quickly got out of control and the government of Curaçao sent an armed detachment to curb the unrest. The Government of the Netherlands responded to this situation by inviting a delegation led by Betico Cruz to The Hague . Negotiations took place twice - in February 1981 and March 1983. In January 1986, the agreements resulted in the provision of full independence to Aruba on January 1, 1996 (ten years later). Later, Betiko Cruz abandoned the idea of ​​granting full independence and agreed to the condition of granting the status of a self-governing state. The item on full independence was removed from the treaty in 1990 ^{[3] [4]} .

Annually, January 25 is celebrated as “Betico Croes Day”. His birthday was taken as the basis for celebrating the national holiday of pride. ^{[5] [6]}