Editing Aruba (section)

=== Autonomy ===
In March 1983 Aruba reached an official agreement within the kingdom for its independence, to be developed in a series of steps as the Crown granted increasing autonomy. In August 1985, Aruba drafted a constitution that was unanimously approved. On 1 January 1986, after the [[1985 Aruban general election|1985 general election]] was held for its first parliament, Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles, officially becoming a country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with full independence planned for 1996.<ref name="historiadiaruba1"/> Croes was seriously injured in a traffic accident in 1985, slipping into a coma. He died in 1986, never seeing the enacting of ''status aparte'' for Aruba for which he had worked over many years.<ref name="historiadiaruba1"/> After his death, Croes was proclaimed ''Libertador di Aruba''.<ref name="historiadiaruba1" /> Croes' successor, [[Henny Eman]] of the [[Aruban People's Party]] became the first [[Prime Minister of Aruba]].

Meanwhile, in 1985, Aruba's oil refinery closed. It had provided Aruba with 30 percent of its real income and 50 percent of government revenue.<ref>{{cite news |last1=de Cordoba |first1=Jose |title=Aruba Braces for Loss of Refinery |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1984/12/23/aruba-braces-for-loss-of-refinery/e311cca4-3330-4c01-b4d0-65f35524cdf9/ |access-date=2021-08-16 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1984-12-23}}</ref> The significant blow to the economy led to a push for a dramatic increase in tourism, and that sector has expanded to become the island's largest industry.<ref name="historiadiaruba1"/> At a convention in The Hague in 1990, at the request of Prime Minister [[Nelson Oduber]], the governments of Aruba, the Netherlands, and the Netherlands Antilles postponed indefinitely Aruba's transition to full independence.<ref name="historiadiaruba1"/> The article scheduling Aruba's complete independence was rescinded in 1995, although it was decided that the process could be revived after another referendum.