Government Ousted in Suriname: Summary of Events & Statements, Dec

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1-8-1991 Government Ousted In Suriname: Summary Of Events & Statements, Dec. 23-jan. 5 Barbara Khol

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Recommended Citation Khol, Barbara. "Government Ousted In Suriname: Summary Of Events & Statements, Dec. 23-jan. 5." (1991). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/notisur/5853

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiSur by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 068404 ISSN: 1060-4189 Government Ousted In Suriname: Summary Of Events & Statements, Dec. 23-jan. 5 by Barbara Khol Category/Department: General Published: Tuesday, January 8, 1991

Dec. 23: Lt.Col. Desi Bouterse resigned as armed forces chief, following a dispute with President Ramsewak Shankar. He did not resign his commission. In a statement released Dec. 22, Bouterse said he was angered by the treatment he had received at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. He accused Shankar of collaborating with Dutch officials who refused to grant him a visa or allow him access to journalists. "If I had been in Shankar's place I would have turned Schiphol upside down to protect the dignity of the commander of my country's national army," Bouterse said, after returning from a trip via Amsterdam to Ghana and Switzerland. Government officials said Bouterse was kept from the public at the Amsterdam airport for security reasons, because he could have been at risk from the thousands of his political opponents who are living in The Netherlands. [A $1.5-billion Dutch aid package to Suriname was suspended after 15 prominent opposition leaders were killed on Dec. 8, 1982 by Bouterse's military government. Bouterse had accused the leaders at the time of plotting to overthrow him. Suriname gained its political independence from The Netherlands in 1975. Bouterse ruled Suriname for several years following a military coup in 1980. The government was turned over to civilians after a party coalition, known as the Front for Democracy and Development, won in the November 1987 general elections. Shankar was elected to serve a five-year term which began in January 1988.] Military police chief Cmdr. Iwan Graanoogst was appointed by Bouterse to serve as his successor on a provisional basis. Dec. 24: According to Dutch news service ANP, army troops occupied the state-run television station facilities after 14 military officers informed members of the national legislature that the armed forces had "lost confidence" in the civilian government. The station suspended transmissions prior to coverage of the legislators' reactions. Broadcasting was resumed shortly thereafter, but news was limited to international events. Military officer Borger Breeveld told Reuters that five or six soldiers were sent to the TV station to prevent its occupation. Late Monday, the armed forces overthrew the Shankar government in a bloodless coup. In a statement read on Surinamese television, Graanoogst said the army was acting in line with its "constitutional responsibility" in taking control of the government. According to the Agence France Presse, Graanossgst led the coup. The Associated Press reported no shooting incidents. The whereabouts of Shankar were not known. The military reportedly notified the government that it was taking control while Shankar and his cabinet were meeting late Monday night in an emergency session at the presidential palace. The president and the other officials decided to go home and offer no resistance, thereby avoiding bloodshed. ANP reported that the army promised to organize elections within 100 days. Earlier Monday night, a reporter for the Surinamese newspaper De Ware Tyd told the AP bureau in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that the military had overthrown the government. The telephone line went dead after a few minutes and the reporter, who did not want to be identified by name, was unable to give further details. Later, all telephone and telex lines to Suriname were shut down. Dec. 25: In Amsterdam, Netherlands, a former high-ranking Surinamese official who spoke with Bouterse after Monday's coup said the military had acted after the government reneged on a pledge to step down. Dec. 26: The AP reported that the coup's impact on an insurgency which has crippled bauxite mining was

"not immediately clear." A peace agreement between guerrillas and the ousted government was opposed by the army. Graanoogst told reporters that the international airport would stay open and there would be no curfew because "there is no danger whatsoever." Reached by telephone Tuesday at his home, Shankar told AP that he and his ministers were not under house arrest and had complete freedom of movement. Dec. 27: President Shankar, Vice President Henck Arron, and members of the cabinet presented their resignations to members of parliament. The legislature was expected to name a new president and vice president by Dec. 29. Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, chair of the 13-nation Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, issued a statement expressing the Community's "dismay and outrage" and demanding full restoration of democracy. Manley said otherwise Caricom members may "reconsider the future relationship with Suriname and the Caribbean Community." Suriname does not belong to Caricom. Cmdr. Graanoogst said the military's overthrow of President Shankar was constitutional because the National Assembly had been left in power. He denied the takeover was a military coup. The constitution requires the Assembly to elect a new president and vice president when their posts are vacant. The Organization of American States (OAS) summoned member states to a special meeting the following day to discuss a Venezuelan request for prompt action to restore the constitutional government in Suriname. Venezuela announced a day earlier it would not recognize the new government and demanded a "firm response" to the coup. Dec. 28: At the OAS special session in Washington, representatives of all Latin American nations except Honduras denounced the military's action. The US also expressed condemnation. The resolution "appeals for the reinstatement of the democratic institutional order" in Suriname. Graanoogst said the new president will set the election date and the interim government will decide whether to allow international observers to monitor the elections. He said the army will work closely with members of Shankar's Front and the National Democratic Party in choosing cabinet members. In the 1987 elections, the Front won 40 seats in the 51-member parliament. The National Democratic Party, created by Bouterse, won only three seats in the same elections. Dec. 29: Members of parliament appointed Johannes Kraag, head of the National Party of Suriname (NPS) to the post of provisional president. Deposed vice president and prime minister Henck Arron represented the NPS in the ruling coalition. Jules Wijdenbosch, leader of Bouterse's National Democratic Party, was appointed provisional vice president. Dec. 31: Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez announced that his government would suspend diplomatic relations with Suriname. Jan. 2: Venezuelan officials said they would call a special meeting of the Rio Group to discuss possible joint actions against the Surinamese government. A Foreign Ministry communique formalizing the break in diplomatic relations is summarized below: 1) Diplomatic relations with Suriname have been suspended. 2) All bilateral cooperation programs have been suspended, excepting those of a strictly humanitarian nature. 3) Only one Venezuelan diplomat, in charge of consular affairs, will remain in Suriname. Jan. 5: Suriname News Agency (SNA) reported that Bouterse and three senior officials of the ousted government agreed Jan. 4 to hold new elections within 150 days. Lt.Col. Bouterse met Saturday with Jaggernath Lachmon, speaker of the National Assembly, former vice president Henck Arron and William Soemita, SNA said. All three are leaders of the ruling party coalition. SNA said the three politicians told Lt.- Col. Bouterse that no members of their Front would participate officially in the new government, although they did not rule out individuals joining the administration on a private basis. (Basic data from Notimex, 12/24/90, 01/02/91; AP, 12/25-28/90; AFP, 12/25/90, 12/31/90, 01/02/90, 01/05/90)

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