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| Affiliation | National Democratic |
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2019-04-03 |
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| Name | Dési Bouterse |
| Address |
Paramaribo, , Suriname |
| Email | secretariaat@president.gov.sr |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
October 13, 1945
(78 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | E Pluribus Unum
Dec 20, 2023 04:32pm |
| Tags |
Army - Convicted -
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| Info | Bouterse, Dési(ré Delano) (b. Oct. 13, 1945, Domburg, Suriname), de facto leader of Suriname (1980-88). One of a group of army men who overthrew the elected government of Suriname in February 1980, Bouterse became the leading figure of the National Military Council. He imposed martial law and censorship, and he was accused of ordering the killings of 15 top intellectuals, political leaders, and journalists in 1982. He conceded his regime was responsible for the killings, but did not acknowledge any personal responsibility. The Netherlands, Suriname's colonial ruler until 1975, reacted to the slayings by suspending a vital $1.5 billion aid package. In 1985 he drafted a new constitution that retained a strong role for the military. Aid was resumed when Bouterse permitted elections in 1987. Bouterse resigned as army chief in 1990, but that same year he overthrew the elected president and aid was suspended again. Bouterse allowed new elections the following year, retired from the military, and started building his army-based National Democratic Party. In 1996 elections, the party campaigned on a strongly nationalistic platform and won the most seats in Parliament. It assembled a coalition government that named a close Bouterse associate, Jules Wijdenbosch, president. Wijdenbosch, in turn, named Bouterse a special adviser - a move that gave Bouterse diplomatic immunity when traveling abroad and helped him avoid drug smuggling charges filed in 1997 by Dutch prosecutors. The Dutch alleged Bouterse, now a timber executive, exported tons of drugs to Europe and had links to Colombian cocaine cartels. Bouterse denied it. He was tried in absentia in 1999 and sentenced to 11 years in jail. In 2005 he made an abortive bid for the presidency, widely seen as a move to avoid imprisonment over the 1982 killings.
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