Diplomatic Intervention Made a Difference in Suriname.

• Author: Rickert, Jonathan

Title: Diplomatic Intervention Made a Difference in Suriname

Text:

The smallest and least populous independent state in South America, the former Dutch colony of Suriname nonetheless attracted an inordinate amount of U.S. government attention in the early 1980s, due to the presence of aluminum giant Alcoa and the fear that Cuba might use it to establish its first foothold on the continent.

Although the U.S. embassy in Paramaribo had adequate personnel for "normal" times, it was not prepared for the situation following the so-called Sergeants' Coup of February 25, 1980, led by Sergeant Desire "Desi" Bouterse, against the elected HenckArron government. Following the coup, Bouterse gained effective control of the government as chairman of the country's National Military Council (NMR) and, initially at least, sought support from Cuba and other leftist regimes.

Having seized power, Bouterse needed functioning ministries to run the government. Therefore, on March 15, 1980, he appointed a non-politically active medical doctor, Hendrick "Henk" Chin A Sen, as prime minister. That position had limited authority from the outset, since the NMR circumscribed the incumbent's activities.

In the late spring of 1980, I was detailed to our embassy in Paramaribo for three weeks to fill in for the sole political officer, who was absent on urgent family business. With no deputy chief of mission (DCM), a single political officer position, and no resident defense attache, the embassy was inadequately staffed to deal with the post-coup situation. At the time I was serving at nearby Embassy Port of Spain, Trinidad, and was scheduled to return to Washington in a few months to become desk officer for Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad. The detail assignment gave me the chance both to support a shorthanded embassy and prepare for my upcoming responsibilities.

Ambassador Nancy Ostrander, who clearly welcomed any help she could get, greeted me warmly on my arrival and immediately put me to work. Calls were scheduled for me with several ministers, Alcoa representatives, the leading labor leader, and others, all of whom were grappling uneasily and anxiously with the uncertainties caused by the coup. She accompanied me on some, including a brief visit with the largely ceremonial president, Johan Ferrier, and with Prime Minister Chin A Sen. With the latter in particular we wanted to get his sense of where the country was headed and what could be done to keep it from falling...