Strongman finds Suriname isn’t easily subdued
Lieut. Col. Desi Bouterse, a former physical education instructor who seized power here in 1980, promised recently to make the army ”the vanguard of the struggle of our people for national liberation.”
The colonel added that he wanted to form a new official party to serve ”the great mass of the people” of this tiny country, a former Dutch colony of 350,000 people on the northern coast of South America that became independent in 1975.
But despite Colonel Bouterse’s plans, life in the capital has gone on much as before, with most people quietly bypassing calls to political action despite an atmosphere of intimidation created in part by informers, telephone taps and a weekday curfew from midnight to 4 A.M.
Paramaribo is a town of porticoed Dutch colonial wooden houses punctuated by Hindu temples and mosques, side by side with Protestant Bible societies and one of the oldest synagogues in the Western Hemisphere. A Shared Sense of Order
The highly literate population, divided between the descendants of Asian Indians, Javanese, blacks, Chinese and Europeans, hardly seems to be revolutionary tinder. The people observe four major religions and share a Dutch-inherited sense of order and social decorum. As evidence of this, it is noteworthy that Suriname is the only country in the Latin American region where a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets is universally obeyed.
Despite official criticism of the United States, American culture predominates. A late-night international flight is met by a guard of uneasy young soldiers; the baggage handler talking to the army commander wears a cap emblazoned ”I Love New York.”
Though the press is censored, book shops carry Time and Newsweek; the shelves offer a selection ranging from Graham Greene to George Orwell. Che Guevara, Marx and Mao are not in evidence.
One week in December, a Paramaribo marquee promised ”Porno and Strong American Sex.” The nearby Nas-Kip restaurant offers Kentucky- style fried chicken. The state-run television broadcasts National Basketball Association games as well as ”Sanford and Son” and ”Dynasty” for an audience that speaks English as well as Dutch. Memory of Killings Persists
A tough sense of humor helps many face the daily worry of new Government repression. A wee-hours trip to a distant nightspot – curfew is lifted Friday and Saturday nights – brought a carload of revelers face to face with a patrolling army armored personnel carrier on a narrow street. ”Traffic control Suriname style,” the driver of the car quipped, nonchalantly swerving around the squat military vehicle.
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Sometimes the humor doesn’t help. The memory of the killing in 1982 of 15 of Colonel Bouterse’s political opponents dimmed Christmas celebrations in some homes in this small and close- knit community. The men were killed by Government troops and militia members in an effort to crush growing demands for a return to electoral democracy.
The first anniversary of the deaths on Dec. 8 was by all accounts quietly observed by many and openly marked by few. The followers of a trade union leader who was shot wore black armbands. A group of friends who tried to visit the graves of the slain men was turned away by a squad drawn from the 3,000-strong army that is Colonel Bouterse’s main base of support. Later the mourners were allowed to pay their respects to the dead.
In December, the colonel was confronted by the first challenge to his rule since the killings a year earlier, a walkout by 4,000 bauxite workers. Their strike stilled the country’s aluminum and bauxite works, the backbone of the economy. New Violence Is Feared
Though Col. Bouterse sought to negotiate an end to the dispute, people said they were deeply afraid that he might resort to violence again to cow the many opponents to his one-man rule. ”This man says he wants to be friends now,” an auto mechanic said. ”But how are we going to shake hands with a machine gun?”
Over the last year, blossoming relations with Cuba brought a flood of delegations, projects and promises. The Cuban Ambassador, Osvaldo Cardenas, was described as the toast of Paramaribo. In short order, he was involved in virtually every aspect of Government business, according to Government officials and outside observers.
But the expanding ties with Cuba were swiftly cut after the United States invasion of Grenada. The timing was a coincidence, according to Western and Latin American diplomats. Mr. Bouterse reportedly already feared the Cubans were undermining his personal authority, training a peoples’ militia and giving headstrong army men and local leftist politicians too many ideas.
On Oct. 25, the day United States Marines landed on Grenada, he expelled the Cubans, complaining in a broadcast speech of ”the increasingly unmanageable relations between the two countries.” Listing the Cubans’ Faults
Now everyone seems to have a complaint against the Cubans. They were pushy, a Government spokesman, Sgt. Maj. Charlo Doedel, said in an interview. The Government asked five Cubans to come to Suriname to learn Dutch; the Cubans sent 40. Mr. Cardenas, the Ambassador, distributed a calling card identifying himself as ”Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba.” This was seen by some Surinamese as more than a bit officious in a land where warbling contests between pet songbirds is a national pastime and tennis shoes are worn to church.
A monthlong trip to Cuba was distressing, Sergeant Major Doedel said. ”I didn’t like the food, I didn’t like the movies with politics in everything, I didn’t like standing in line all the time.”
”They wanted me to stay for three more weeks to see the whole island,” he added. ”I told them no, no. I wouldn’t stay for even one more day. We’re not Marxists. We’re Surinamers.”
The big question now facing many Surinamese is whether to stay or to go. Staying means political uncertainty, possible violence, certain economic hardship. But because of currency restrictions, leaving means leaving most things behind.
Many of the country’s doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers left before the Government tightened travel regulations, and an estimated 180,000 Surinamese now live in the Netherlands. Others say they have found it less easy to drop profession and sentiment in a move abroad.
”Everything I’ve worked for is here,” one businessman said. A professional spoke of being torn between his desire to emigrate and his wish to help his country get back on its feet.
”If I go into the Government, I have to walk over 15 bodies,” he said. ”But we need people from outside to join in. Maybe step by step we can do something.”
Colonel Bouterse, who is reported to have bought his fifth house, appears determined for now to stay on, though he seldom appears in public, reportedly fearing an attempt on his life.
”His back is a little bit against the wall,” a Latin American diplomat here said. ”He is a sergeant who wound up running a country. It is not an easy job.”
A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 10, 1984, Section A, Page 2 of the National edition with the headline: STRONGMAN FINDS SURINAME ISN’T EASILY SUBDUED.
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