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                                                                                                           LOCAL Tuesday 14 January 2025






























             Aruba bids farewell to its first Prime Minister, Henny Eman



                                                                                     the AVP party. Henny not only man-
                                                                                     aged to revive his party but also his
                                                                                     homeland. In 1986, he was elected
                                                                                     as the first Prime Minister of Aruba
                                                                                     after  convincing  the  Netherlands
                                                                                     and the Antilles that the people's
                                                                                     desire for self-determination was a
                                                                                     sacred right.

                                                                                     Henny served as Prime Minister for
                                                                                     three  terms.  A  humble  man  who
                                                                                     never sought attention, he was a
                                                                                     no-nonsense  leader  and  always
                                                                                     sharp in making difficult decisions.
                                                                                     His vision remains legendary.

                                                                                     Henny  Eman:  A  statesman  with  a
                                                                                     simple life in the countryside      Arends. He personally contributed
                                                                                     A  humble  and  tranquil  life  in  the   to much of the carpentry work. This
             Yesterday morning, with a state fu-  From a young age, Henny was pre-   countryside characterized the life   simple wooden house, surrounded
             neral, the people of Aruba bid farewell   pared  to  enter  politics  someday.   of a man who left his mark on the   by the natural beauty of the Aruban
             to Aruba's first Prime Minister, Jan   Like his father, Shon A., who passed   highest  state  platforms  within  the   landscape, became his sanctuary.
             Hendrik Albert "Henny" Eman. Eman is   away too young, Henny studied law   Kingdom. This sensible and simple   He was always surrounded by family,
             remembered for his political legacy.   in Leiden with the mindset that a   life was the one Henny chose after   friends, and his two beloved pets.
             The eldest son of politician Shon A.   great challenge awaited him once   serving  Aruba  in  the  most  critical
                            Eman and Blanche     he  completed  his  studies.  In  the   positions.                      Embracing the land with the same
                                 Eman-Hartog,    early 1970s, Henny received news                                        dedication he applied to his public
                                   he was born   from Aruba that the political party   The visionary of a New Aruba chose   service, Henny began cultivating a
                                    into a fam-  his grandfather had founded was     to spend his later years in quiet humil-  small piece of land near his home in
                                     ily where   facing significant issues. The party   ity, embracing a life close to nature   Jaburibari. With the help of friends
                                     politics    was fractured.                      and the tranquility of Jaburibari.  and family, he planted peanuts and
                                     was  the    Henny returned to Aruba to restore the                                  beans, installed an irrigation system,
                                     order  of   AVP party and revive the struggle—  Despite his immense achievements,   and personally cared for the crops.
                                    the day.     the dream of being "masters in our   Henny Eman opted for a life of sim-  His harvests, known as "Jaburibari Pea-
                                                 own house"—for which the people     plicity and humility in retirement. He   nuts," were sold in small neighborhood
                                                 of Aruba had fought so hard. The    never sought or aspired to positions   stores in Noord, packaged in simple
                                                 AVP party was in disarray. Henny,   as an advisor, commissioner, or any   plastic or brown paper bags that
                                                 together with Alicio Quandt and Chibi   of the other attractive and lucra-  reflected the simplicity of his work.
                                                 Croes, led the party as a triumvirate,   tive roles often offered to someone
                                                 securing one seat in 1977.          with a career as impressive as Henny   During his retirement, Henny remained
                                                                                     Eman’s.                             deeply connected to his roots and
                                                 After the election, Henny returned                                      his community in other ways.
                                                  to the Netherlands, completed his   When he moved to the countryside   Henny's  humble  life  after  such  a
                                                  studies with a thesis on Aruba's Sta-  in Jaburibari, together with friends,   distinguished career is a profound
                                                   tus Aparte (separate status), and   Henny built a modest wooden house   example  of  leadership  rooted  in
                                                   immediately returned to Aruba to   for himself and his wife, Iris Eman-  service, gratitude, and simplicity.q
                                                   continue in politics and keep the
                                                    fight for self-determination alive.

                                                     In 1979, the party received 1,200
                                                     votes, more than half of which
                                                     were cast for Henny personally. In
                                                    1978, Henny was elected as leader
                                                   of the AVP. The Status Aparte once
                                                 again became the central theme of
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