(Jamaica Gleaner) One of Curaçao’s most popular politicians, Hemlin Wiels – a senior member of that country’s governing coalition – was gunned down on the Maripampoen fishing beach outside the capital, Willemstad, Sunday afternoon.
The 54-year-old Wiels, a controversial politician and social worker who figured in the struggle for political independence from the Dutch, entered the political arena 10 years ago. He led the political party Pueblo Soberano, one of Curaçao’s largest parties, which he founded in 2005.
Professor Hopeton Dunn, director of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication, who was among a group of press officials and journalists attending a UNESCO conference on world press freedom in the island, was on the scene of the incident. He noted that the incident triggered shock among onlookers, including policemen, who cried at the scene.
Reports are that Wiels was murdered execution style about 5 o’clock as he bought fish for his family in the fishing village. People who gathered at the scene applauded and saluted the politician as his body was taken through the community in a hearse escorted by the police.