Pedro Atacho

Pedro José Atacho (born 20 September 1960) is a Curaçaoan politician. He was a member of the Party for the Restructured Antilles. During his political career he was Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles from 1994 to 1998. He served in the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles, including a period as Speaker between 2007 and 2010. After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010 Atacho became a member of the Estates of Curaçao.

Pedro Atacho
Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles
In office
31 March 1994 – 24 March 1998
Prime MinisterMiguel Pourier
GovernorJaime Saleh
Speaker of the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles
In office
5 October 2007 – 22 September 2010
Preceded byJean Francisca
Member of the Estates of Curaçao
In office
2010–2012
Personal details
Born (1960-09-20) 20 September 1960
Caracas, Venezuela
Political partyParty for the Restructured Antilles (until 2014)

Career

Atacho was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 20 September 1960.[1] He was trained as a police officer in the Netherlands.[2] In 1990 Atacho served as head of the narcotics department of Curaçao.[3] In 1994 Atacho became Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles in the cabinet of Miguel Pourier.[4] He intended to resigned on 10 March 1997, after four Venezuelan bankrobbers had escaped from the Koraal Specht prison. A week before three convicted murders also managed to escape.[2] However, Prime Minister Pourier wished that he would continue as Minister.[5] Atacho stayed on and starting later that month Dutch Marines had to assist with keeping prisoners inside the prison terrain.[5] A parliamentary report on the state of the prison system led to Atacho's resignation on 24 March 1998.[6][7]

During his political career Atacho helped form six cabinets.[8] In 2002 Atacho was informateur and formateur for the first cabinet of Prime Minister Etienne Ys. He also helped to form the second cabinet of Ys in 2004.[9] In 2006 he was informateur for the Emily de Jongh-Elhage cabinet.[10] He also helped to form the last cabinet of the Netherlands Antilles, which was formed after the 2010 Netherlands Antilles general election.[11]

Atacho was member of the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles. He was Speaker from 5 October 2007 to 22 September 2010.[12] While he was Chairman the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles voted for changes to the Statute which led to the possible dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. Atacho called it "a historic day".[13]

After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles Atacho became a member of the Estates of Curaçao. He voted against the 2012 budget.[14] In 2014 Atacho left the Party for the Restructured Antilles, stating he wished to end his political career.[8] In April 2017, after a motion was adopted in the Estates of Curaçao to limit the role of the Governor of Curaçao in the formation process, Atacho stated that the motion would be difficult to ignore and deemed it logical that the Estates should pick its own informateur.[15]

References
  1. "1221b V/11-12" (PDF). Estates of Curaçao. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. "Minister Atacho van Justitie op Antillen treedt af". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 11 March 1997. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  3. Marcel Haenen (21 August 1990). "'Aanvoer van cocaine via de Antillen neemt toe'". NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  4. "Kabinet van Antillen gaat donderdag aan het werk". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 29 March 1994. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  5. "Marine bewaakt gevangenis op Curaçao". Reformatorisch Dagblad (in Dutch). 26 March 1997. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021.
  6. "Justitieminister Antillen weg om Koraal Specht". Reformatorisch Dagblad (in Dutch). 25 March 1998. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  7. "Minister weg om Koraalspecht op Antillen". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 25 March 1998. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  8. "'Uittreden Rozier versterkte meerderheid oppositie'" (in Dutch). Knipselkrant Curaçao / Amigoe. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  9. Freek van Beetz (2013). Het einde van de Antillen: kroniek van een adviseur op Curaçao. Eburon Uitgeverij B.V. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-90-5972-756-4.
  10. Beetz, 151.
  11. Beetz, 266.
  12. "SOAB: No obvious misconduct with credit cards". Today SXM. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  13. "De Staten stemt in". Antilliaans Dagblad (in Dutch). 20 August 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  14. "Begroting 2012 goedgekeurd" (in Dutch). Bearing Point. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  15. "Atacho: "Decision To Reduce The Role Of Governor In (In) Formation Is Serious"". Curaçao Chronicle. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.
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