Taking Note
Washington's New Freedom Fighters? W ITH ONE "PRIVATE" AID NETWORK LAID bare, advocates of the Surinamese Liberation Army (SLA) are pushing Washington to support "one of the oldest freedom...
...Observers say Bouterse will sign this summer, no doubt unleashing more unrest...
...The SLA is based among the Maroons or "Bush Negroes" of eastern Suriname, descendants of slaves who fled Dutch plantations in the 1700s...
...The government is currently negotiating with the IMF, whichgiven the context--can name its terms...
...In 1982, Bouterse executed 15 of the opposition's top leaders, causing the Netherlands to suspend support...
...Idled for months, the bauxite industry resumed operations in April...
...Benjamin Linder, a 27-year-old engineer, was killed in April while at work in northern Jinotega province...
...Although there is no sign that the Reagan Administration has taken the bait, no love has been lost on the nationalist regime of Lt...
...Now, less than one year after Brunswijk's first attack on an Army outpost, the government in Paramaribo is reeling and the economy at a standstill...
...W ITH ONE "PRIVATE" AID NETWORK LAID bare, advocates of the Surinamese Liberation Army (SLA) are pushing Washington to support "one of the oldest freedom fighters in the hemisphere...
...Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qaddafi visited in 1985 and promised $100 million in aid, which Paramaribo says has yet to materialize...
...Feeling the pinch, Bouterse has brought civilians into his cabinet and announced a timetable for return to constitutional rule...
...D6si Bouterse...
...Their calls for aid were amplified by Jeane Kirkpatrick and on the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal, where Suriname was pronounced "an ideal setting for an application of the Reagan Doctrine...
...Dismissed from the Army, he turned to banditry, seeking cover in the eastern forests in which he was born...
...If Kirkpatrick and friends get their way, Bouterse won't last that long...
...Fearing that Suriname might be next in line, the former Army sports instructor expelled 100 Cuban advisers following the 1983 invasion of Grenada, reportedly in response to firm prodding by Brazil...
...At the end of March, the rebels established a Washington presence...
...Most schools have remained closed since February, when protestors-chanting "No Bread, No School' '-clashed violently with police...
...Rumors abound of Libyan military advisers and atrocities committed by troops speaking a foreign language...
...Reports of civilian deaths and aerial bombardments abound...
...He began calling for Bouterse's ouster and attracted the attention of the Surinamese exile community in the Netherlands, which now provides the band's political and financial backing...
...Yet we were somewhat unprepared for the callousness of Congressman Connie Mack (R-FL), addressing Linder's parents at a congressional hearing after his death: " . . . I don't want to be tough on you, but I really feel you have asked for it...
...The first elections in 10 years are slated for November 25...
...Pressured by Brunswijk as well as the economy, Bouterse's rule is falling apart in textbook fashion...
...Thousands have died in Reagan's brutal war, yet North Americans who care deeply about Nicaragua were particularly pained by the murder of Benjamin Linder, who was known and loved by many...
...On independence, the Hague granted its former colony a $1.5 billion 10-year aid package, providing Suriname with the region's highest per capita gross domestic product...
...That distinction was to be short-lived...
...A former president, physician Henk Chin-A-Sen, has thrown in his lot with Brunswijk, bringing with him his exile opposition group, the Liberation Council...
...Yet in this small society with an extremely vulnerable economy, their impact has been great...
...We hope his death will renew the commitment of those working for peace and justice in the hemisphere, and sober those who prosecute the war against Nicaragua...
...victim...
...The State Department's most recent country report criticizes Surinam's human rights record, yet the Reagan Administration has had surprisingly little to say about Bouterse's left-leaning government...
...The Alcoa/ Royal Dutch Shell refinery is "in full swing," according to an Alcoa spokesman, while mines at Moengo and an aluminum smelter remain closed, leaving 1,900 jobless...
...Coupled with falling prices for bauxite, which accounted for 80% of Suriname's foreign earnings and 40% of government revenues, the cutoff signaled the beginning of what may prove to be the end for Bouterse...
...What has materialized is intense speculation on the size and nature of the Libyan presence...
...Suriname's 350,000 people are divided among Creoles, Amerindians, Europeans, East Indians, Javanese and Maroons, which has meant that the country's political life has often more to do with ethnicity than with ideology...
...The rebels-who control the eastern third of the country-have also successfully shut down two palm oil plantations and a lumber mill, paralyzed traffic and consistently hit electric pylons, causing rationing in the capital...
...Lack of foreign exchange has yielded shortages in basic goods, triggering demonstrations by housewives and students...
...Brunswijk himself is said to be motivated more by a desire to settle old scores with Bouterse, whom he served as a bodyguard, than by any political vision...
...Bouterse and his ruling clique are Creole...
...The Maroons have remained isolated politically and culturally, providing fertile ground for the activities of guerrilla leader Ronnie Brunswijk, a 25-year-old bank robber turned-freedom-fighter...
...But if Washington should side with Brunswijk, "Bouterse's goose is cooked," as a Caribbean-based journalist put it...
...Suriname achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1975, and was a parliamentary democracy until the 1980 coup when Bouterse seized power...
...The guerrillas appear to have understood the importance of economic sabotage, which the government estimates at $65 million for the eight months of warfare...
...T HE "BRUNSWIJK GANG," AS THE GOVERNment calls it, numbers only in the hundreds and is poorly equipped, according to eyewitness sources...
...Responding to the deaths of three European volunteers last summer, State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb had said: "The Government of Nicaragua clearly bears responsibility for any harm that befalls such persons...
...T HE REGION'S OTHER FREEDOM FIGHTERS, THE Nicaraguan contras, have claimed their first U.S...
...Meanwhile, some 8,000 Maroons-who are largely of the Moravian faith-have sought refuge in neighboring French Guiana...
Vol. 21 • March 1987 • No. 2
