From the walls of the owners’ quarters of a shipping boat, a wooden, wind-up boat clock witnessed Aruba become one of the biggest exporters of coffee in the world in the 1960s and 70s. Clyde Harms, a retired businessman, tells us the stories that his clock reminds him of. Back then, Clyde was the manager of a warehouse in Miami, where the coffee was imported to. Being curious about life on board, he took a trip on the ship where he found this clock on the wall. He fell in love with the clock and kept it even after the ship was sold. Thanks to its close relationship with the Wayuu people from the Guajira department, Aruba became one of the biggest exporters of coffee despite never growing a grain of the product. At that time, Colombia only allowed coffee to be exported under the umbrella of the Colombian Coffee Association. Due to the high customs duty on these products, coffee growers would trade with Wayuu chiefs allowing this way for significant profits to be made through shipments into the international market via Aruba.

“When I look at the clock I think of Colombia, and I think of all my Colombian friends.”

La Guajira was officially annexed to Colombia in the late 19th century but retained relatively important levels of autonomy. This has allowed the Wayuu people to transit and trade more freely because it lay beyond the reach of Colombian jurisdiction. Aruban companies had already been using this trade route exporting whiskey and cigarettes to Colombia, thus facilitating the import of Colombian coffee for transshipment. Once the laws in Colombia were revised to allow more generous contributions to the growers, the need for the Guajiran port, and for transit through Aruba subsided.