Some Arubans are treated less nicely when visiting America
DIARIO Aruba
9/28/2005

ORANJESTAD (AAN): The image Aruba is acquiring with some Americans is none too pretty. Now that Beth Twitty is suggesting that Americans not travel to Aruba or any other Dutch territories, on almost all channels, as well as on the popular Dr. Phil Show and soon on the hugely popular Oprah Winfrey Show, the situation is worsening.

There are millions of Americans following the case of the Alabama student who went missing in Aruba. The general opinion is that the government of Aruba hasn’t done anything to find Natalee, nor to maintain the three young suspects detained.

They think that in Aruba, corruption is the order of the day and that because Joran’s father has the title of judge, he could have easily caused his son to regain his freedom.
Now what? It seems that many Americans will (take out their anger?) on any Aruban that goes to their country.

Evil Eye on Arubans

DIARIO received last week, various reports of Arubans visiting America, under the ‘evil eye’ they have gained from Americans. This has even happened to Arubans who have lived a long time in America.

A known local citizen has indicated that he telephoned the US to make a reservation in an American hotel. The female operator was speaking very nicely and was cheery until the time when she asked “where are you calling from”

When the citizen replied “From Aruba”, at once the tone of the conversation changed drastically.

Another case: There have been a few local merchants who have also reported that they have received really bad treatment when traveling abroad for conventions.
When walking in the Convention Center with a badge on their shirt, with the word Aruba appearing in large. Americans see the name “Aruba” and they flee and at once (refuse?) to speak with the Aruban participants.

In the eyes of Americans, Aruba is condemned for freeing the youngsters, and for having no word as to what happened to Natalee Holloway.

Besides that, DIARIO has received information that an American cab drivers speak (rudely?) if they know you are from Aruba. This is what happened to some people who visited Las Vegas.

An Aruban was on a street corner when this happened, and the only thing he could do was keep his mouth shut and walk away.
But not all Arubans will keep their mouths shut! DIARIO has learned that some got into a discussion and defended the island, as he should.

Aruban Credit Card

What else is happening to Arubans in America? DIARIO has received confirmation that an Aruban was in a department store looking for assistance from a salesperson, said (something?) and the sales person found out that the person was from Aruba. At this point, the saleslady did not want to continue assisting the Aruban customer.

The situation of Arubans residing in America is becoming tiring, they have found ‘harassment’ to the point where they’d rather not identify themselves as Arubans.

However, even if you don’t identify yourself as Aruban, you may be identified as such when going to complete a purchase at a cashier. A lady tells DIARIO that when she took out her credit card from Aruba Bank to pay for a purchase at Macy’s in Atlanta, the cashier saw the word ‘Aruba’ and she started to have a word with the client she was serving.

The ‘verbal attack’ are launched against the Arubians who travel to America, and now some local people are asking starting to answer “We are from Curaçao”, when asked where they’re from.

A local journalist also found a ‘negative lecture’ when he arrived to Miami and boarded a car rental bus and started conversing with the chauffeur. The chauffeur was Cuban and didn’t have a nice word for Aruba.

Is the boycott against Aruba working or not? Commerces in Aruba are complaining about a slowdown in the month of September in general. Some days you even didn’t see one tourist walking in the mall or Main Street (Caya Principal).
Some hotels are half full, and cabdrivers are complaining about ‘off-season’.

Although local authorities keep saying that demand for travel to Aruba is high, one must take a logical look at this situation. DIARIO also received confirmation that in the beginning of September, there was one US – Aruba flight that only had a dozen tourists on board. They each took up 3-seat rows to lay down and sleep.

“The worst is yet to come”, a citizen explained to DIARIO. Aruba has demonstrated to the American people that the investigation of Natalee’s case (continues?)

In case this does not happen, some hotel workers will have to be laid off for lack of tourists. We hope that October will be better than this month.

[translated by Getagrip]