U.S. drops idea of Suriname coup

New York Times News Service

Washington — The Reagan administration dropped a plan this year to sponsor the overthrow of the government of Suriname, a former Dutch colony in South America, after congressional committees objected, administration officials said Tuesday.

The plan, the officials said, called for the formation of a small paramilitary force composed mainly of Suriname exiles opposed to the authoritarian government of Lt. Col. Desi Bouterse. The force was to infiltrate the capital, Paramaribo, and oust Bouterse, the officials said. Bouterse, who seized power in a military coup in 1980, is viewed by administration officials as an unpredictable leader with pro-communist sympathies. Last December, his government rounded up 15 leading opponents, including prominent citizens, and summarily executed them, according to the administration.

Whether the plan to overthrow Bouterse called for his arrest, deportation or other action was unclear. The assassination of foreign leaders, formally prohibited by President Ford, also was barred by President Reagan in an executive order on intelligence activities issued in 1981.

The plan was sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to House Intelligence Committee members. The CIA was reported to have told congressional committees that the ouster of Bouterse would eliminate the possibility that the Soviet Union and Cuba could use Suriname as a base for expanding their influence in South America.

A CIA spokesman said late Tuesday that “we can’t comment on these kinds of allegations.”

Several members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees said they had objected to the scheme because they felt the administration had not demonstrated that Suriname posed a threat to U.S. interests. The nation, on the northern coast of South America, is bordered by French Guiana, Brazil and Guyana, a former British colony.

Committee members said they were not opposed in principle to an attempt to overthrow a foreign government. But they criticized the CIA for advocating what a House member called “the most extreme measure” before less severe methods were used to try to steer Suriname away from Soviet and Cuban influence.

Date:
June 2, 1983
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