Suriname commemorates 1980 military coup

Published on Saturday, February 27, 2010 Email To Friend Print Version

By Ivan Cairo

PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- Around 700 people gathered at the ‘Monument of the Revolution’ in Paramaribo, capital of Suriname, on Thursday to commemorate the February 25, 1980 military coup which overthrew the democratically elected Henck Arron administration.

Thirty years after the coup which claimed four lives, coup leader Desi Bouterse (64) told the gathering that the situation in Suriname currently is just the same as in 1980, which forced him and 15 other soldiers to remove the government.


Desi Bouterse If it was 30 years ago, Bouterse stated, he and his comrades would have reached for the gun again.

“But we are older and wiser now and are aware that there are other means such as democratic processes to dismiss those who don’t understand what should be done, in order for us together with the people to start the development of this country,” Bouterse said.

He added that, in 1980, “soldiers, with fear for their lives, not only for their own interest, but in the interest of Suriname” took up arms against the government.

“It was a very emotional moment,” he recalled.

Hinting at the May 25 general elections, Bouterse told his supporters and followers that it is “a must” for his National Democratic Party (NDP) to win these elections. He urged party members to put aside their egos and work in unison to win the election, noticing that the incumbent won’t present victory on a silver platter.

Preceding the military coup in 1980 were weeks of strike action by army officers for better secondary benefits and recognition of their workers' union. The leaders of the proposed union, Badresein Sital, Ramon Abrahams and Laurens Neede were jailed and court-martialed on charges of insubordination.

However before they were sentenced these army officers were set free after the successful power seizure of their comrades. Several politicians including incumbent president Ronald Venetiaan, who at the time was minister of education, were jailed.

Sital, Abrahams and Neede, who also addressed the meeting, noted the significant benefits the so-called ‘Revolution’ had for Suriname. According to Sital, the then military government didn’t protect the revolution adequately, which ultimately resulted in mistakes by the junta. This, the former army officer and ex-minister said, has enabled enemies at home and abroad to derail the revolution.

Meanwhile, Neede argued that if the NDP, which is a fruit of the military takeover, didn’t win the upcoming elections, “we shouldn’t blame others then ourselves”.

In an interview with Radio ABC, President Venetiaan said that the coup was a “horrible mistake” which had a disastrous effect on life and economy in Suriname.

Currently, Bouterse and several of the 15 other army officers who staged the coup are being prosecuted for the murder in December 1982 of 15 prominent opponents of the military government. His military rule came to an end in November 1987 after a landmark victory for the Front for Democracy and Development, consisting of the political parties which are currently in power in Suriname.