The Political Situation in Aruba

What is the political situation in Aruba? What kind of government do they have and is it stable? Do they ever have any type of political protests that would make it unsafe?

Apparently, though Aruba is like a Dutch protectorate, it is considered fairly autonomous from Holland. Foreign affairs, Defense, Supreme Court Decisions are all under the control of the Netherlands, but most everything else is under control of Aruba. They have strong and deep ties though.

Aruba is so dependent on their tourism industry that they do their best to keep things on an even keel. The Netherlands has been cutting the ties (including purse strings), but I don't know if that comes from a push from Aruba or not.

Do they ever have any political protests that you might need to avoid or is everything peaceful in the political realm. I know some foreign countries can get downright dangerous at certain times of the year especially.

I have seen one protest in Aruba although I do not know if I could call it that. They were protesting to fight drugs and wanted more awareness programs. It was harmless though.

That makes me feel a little better about going. We were in Chile when the left wing group was trying to take over and it was downright scary. They would throw rocks at your car, and sometimes the police would come through an area spraying everything with huge water cars to get groups to break up.