Suriname

Suriname is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States (OAS), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM).

Before the arrival of Europeans, the territory that is now Suriname was inhabited by Arawak, Carib, and Warrau Native Americans. The Dutch arrived in 1581, and English traders began to colonize the region during the first half of the 17th century. In 1667 the English ceded their part to the Netherlands in exchange for New Amsterdam (later New York). Britain formally confirmed Dutch possession following the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. Slavery was abolished in the area in 1863, and an agreement with the British was subsequently drawn up for control of emigrants from India. In 1922 Suriname became an integral part of the Netherlands, but a new constitution in 1954 elevated its status to that of an equal member of the kingdom. On November 25, 1975, under the leadership of Prime Minister Henck Arron, a Creole, Suriname was granted its independence by the Dutch parliament. Some 40,000 people, however, chose to retain Dutch citizenship and emigrated from Suriname to the Netherlands. In the new republic’s first elections in 1977, Arron retained his majority.

Arron was overthrown in February 1980 by a left-wing military coup from which Lieutenant Colonel Désiré (“Dési”) Bouterse emerged as the nation’s leader. Bouterse ruled by decree as commander-in-chief of the army and chairman of the Policy Centre. Coup attempts in 1980 and 1981 were foiled, and a 1982 effort to organize a democratic opposition movement was brutally suppressed. A guerrilla war broke out in 1986, disrupting the nation’s economy. The 1987 constitution restored civilian government, and parliamentary elections were held. In January 1988 Ramsewak Shankar, former agriculture minister, was elected president by the National Assembly, and Arron became vice-president. Bouterse, however, continued to hold the reins of power, and he ousted the Shankar government in December 1990.

New legislative elections were held in May 1991, and in September a former education minister and leader of the New Front party, Ronald Venetiaan, was chosen as president. Venetiaan introduced constitutional amendments to limit the power of the military in 1992. He also signed a peace agreement with the largest guerrilla group. The New Front won the majority of seats in the 1996 National Assembly elections but not enough to appoint the president. Instead, a coalition government was formed, led by President Jules Wijdenbosch of the National Democratic Party. In December 1997 the government announced the establishment of a commission to investigate alleged atrocities committed under military rule in the 1980s. The Cabinet was dismissed by President Wijdenbosch in May 1999. An attempt by the National Assembly the following month to remove the president failed, but Wijdenbosch called for elections to be brought forward to early 2000. The entire Cabinet resigned in December 1999, after charges of corruption were laid against several ministers but, within a few days, a reduced number of ministers were re-appointed.

In elections held on May 25, 2000, the New Front won 31 seats in the 51-member National Assembly, just one seat short of the two-thirds majority required to elect a president. However, in early August members of the assembly voted Ronald Venetiaan back into office as president. Jules Ajodhia became prime minister. It was hoped that the new government would be able to ease economic difficulties as well as resolve the border dispute with neighbouring Guyana over the Courantyne River. Relations between the two states deteriorated in June 2000 when a Canadian company, operating under an agreement with Guyana, wished to drill for oil in offshore waters; talks at a summit in July failed to resolve the issue. In 2004 the UN set up a tribunal to settle the dispute. In the 2005 parliamentary elections Venetiaan’s New Front secured 23 seats, failing to gain a governing majority and needing to seek an agreement with other coalition groups in order to provide a workable government; Venetiaan was re-elected as president in August 2005.