Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs is present in Suriname today at the celebration of 45 years of independence. It is the first time in ten years that a Dutch minister has visited the country. “It is mainly a symbolic visit, to resettle the relationship between the two countries,” says correspondent Nina Jurna.
Chilled relationship
The fact that no Dutch minister has visited Suriname for so long is due to the previous government under former president Desi Bouterse. He was found guilty of drug smuggling in the Netherlands. In addition, he was convicted in Suriname at the end of last year for his part in the December murders of 1982. Conversely, Suriname thought that the Netherlands was too much involved in domestic affairs.
“Both countries have not exchanged ambassadors for a while, which shows how cold the relationship was under Bouterse”, says Jurna. “But with the new government under President Santokhi, cooperation has started again.” Santokhi’s VHP won the elections last May and immediately announced that it wanted to restore ties with the Netherlands and leave the Bouterse era behind.
Bad economic situation
Suriname is in bad economic shape. Bouterse left behind a government debt of 2.5 billion euros, mainly in foreign loans. He has also left the current government with additional salary costs. Just before the elections, he hired a few thousand extra officials, costing the country nearly seven million euros a month.
Minister Blok has previously promised to help Suriname financially where possible, including a corona support package of 3.5 million euros. In addition, there will be more cooperation in the field of justice and security and the fight against drug trafficking, and ambassadors have since been exchanged.
It is not clear whether any new agreements will be concluded during Blok’s current visit to Suriname. “You should see the visit mainly in the context of the renewed relationship between the two countries,” says Jurna. “It is possible that a number of agreements made will still be signed.”
Not undisputed
Minister Blok’s visit is not uncontroversial. He wrote to the House of Representatives last month that the Netherlands will not maintain contact with the Surinamese vice president Ronnie Brunswijk, unless it is purely functional. The reason for this is that in 1999 he was sentenced in the Netherlands to eight years in prison for cocaine trafficking.
Nevertheless, Blok and Brunswick met yesterday during a dinner offered by President Santokhi. It is not known whether the two will continue to talk to each other. The name of the vice president does not appear on the official program, but according to Jurna that does not mean anything. “In addition, Brunswijk indicates that the Dutch government cannot avoid him, because all conversations with him will be purely functional.”
Correspondent Nina Jurna previously spoke with Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk about the relationship with the Netherlands:
Besides a possible meeting with Brunswick, there are even more tensions in the air. Minister Blok is no stranger to the Surinamese. Two years ago he called Suriname a ‘failed state ‘ and said he did not know of any multicultural country where there is “peaceful coexistence”. Images of the verdict leaked and it drew a lot of criticism for Blok, both at home and abroad.
View the statements that Blok made about Suriname two years ago:
Last Monday, a small demonstration took place against the arrival of Blok on the Vlaggenplein in the capital Paramaribo, partly because of these statements. “Those remarks hurt the Surinamese very much. I can imagine that Blok will say something about it diplomatically during his visit, but it will not predominate. There were only a handful of people present at the demonstration.” At the time, Minister Blok apologized for his statements and they were accepted.
Moreover, according to Jurna, the Surinamese have completely different things on their mind. “They are much more concerned with the question of whether it is wise to organize all kinds of festivities during the corona pandemic. Moreover, many Surinamese are also concerned about the bad economic situation. The country is on the precipice.”