Anonymous letter purports to describe planned coup: commentary

F-2012-32749

UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2012-32749 Doc No. C05267186 Date: 01/03/2013
SECRET

PAGE 01 PARAMA 01806 082053Z
ACTION SY-06
INFO OCT-00 COPY-01 ADS-00 INR-10 EUR-12 SS-10 CIAE-00 DODE-00 NSCE-00 ARA-16 NSAE-00 SSO-01 PM-08 MCT-02 INRE-00 USSS-00 SYE-00 FBIE-00 SP-02 /068 W
206600 082115Z/65

O 081941Z AUG 83

FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0308
AMEMBASSY CARACAS
AMEMBASSY PANAMA

SECRET PARAMARIBO 1806
STATE FOR ARA/CAR, SY AND M/CT
CARACAS FOR RSO; PANAMA FOR ADS LEE
RELEASED IN FULL
E.O. 12356: DECL: 08/08/89
TAGS: ASEC, PINS, NS

SUBJ: Anonymous letter purports to describe planned coup: commentary

REF: PARAMARIBO 1805

  1. SECRET – Entire text.
  2. Summary: Anonymous letter discovered at Chancery 0650 Monday, August 8th, expresses need to confer with Ambassador about plan for future coup described at some length. Letter makes no threats against Embassy or Americans. Contents suggest kinship with anonymous May 17th letter reported earlier. (We do not hold copy of our cable).
    Action planned by Embassy: none. Action requested by Department: none.
  3. Text of letter is given in PARAMARIBO 1805. This commentary covers first externals of the letter and then contents of the letter.
  4. Externals. 0650 Monday, August 8th, consular officer found envelope lying on floor inside front door of Chancery. Comment: Someone must have pushed envelope through small space between sliding door panels at some undetermined time between COB 1530 Friday, August 5, and 0650 Monday, August 8th. Envelope was only item delivered over weekend. Envelope was then delivered to Ambassador routinely through mail room. Ambassador received and opened envelope shortly before noon same day.
  5. Envelope was marked:
    “Private & Confidential
    The Ambassador
    American Embassy
    Paramaribo.”
    Envelope text was hand-printed in ink and in block letters. Interior of envelope had watermark “VACO”—name of well-known Paramaribo stationery and office supplies retailer.
  6. Letter itself covers two pages. Type font is italic. Text received appears to be copy of typed original, reproduced on paper probably one-third longer than original was typed on. There is no signature after final, underlined word of letter, namely “Concerned.”
  7. Contents of letter (geared to text reftel):
    (A) Although first sentence speaks of “need to confer with you before we put same into action,” no time, place, or persons are named for conference.
    (B) Matchup of forty men with their proposed tasks appears imperfect and unprofessional. Numbers of persons and types of weaponry are prima facie woefully inadequate for task envisaged. Plan described would almost certainly fail of its stated objective.
    (C) Final four paragraphs contain some themes strongly reminiscent of text of anonymous May 17th, 1983 letter addressed to Ambassador (and transmitted to Department). May 17th letter, for example, speaks of “the death of our brothers caused by your inefficient Donovan methods.” Today’s undated letter says, “You folks along with Donovan allowed Daal and the rest to be killed.” Furthermore, today’s letter’s references to previous letters to Ambassador, to a Roy Horb letter, and writer’s tone of exasperation with US policy suggest possibility that same group may be responsible for both May 17th and today’s texts. Note: type fonts of two letters are, however, different.
    (D) Ostensibly, today’s letter comes from a group antipathetic to Bouterse, impatient with lack of US intervention against regime—a group both frustrated and irritated. Unlike May 17th text, however, today’s letter contains no threats against either Embassy or Americans.
  8. Country team met twice to review and assess text. Consensus is that letter per se does not represent threat to Embassy or Americans. It may conceivably have been drafted in Netherlands by disgruntled Surinamers or others and recently flown in. Embassy does not plan to discuss letter with GOS. Original will be pouched to STATE/SY.

Duemling

SECRET
NNN

UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2012-32749 Doc No. C05267186 Date: 01/03/2013

Source:

C05267186

Link:

Internal Link:

https://surinamepress.com/wp-content/uploads/1983/08/Anonymous-letter-purports-to-describe-planned-coup-commentary-August-1983-C05267186.pdf

Date:
August 8, 1983
Categories:
Desi Bouterse, Foiled Coups & Plots, Planned Suriname Invasion, State Sponsored Terrorism
Tags:
Boxes:
F-2012-32749
Years:
1983
Persons:
Desi Bouterse, Duemling, Roy Horb
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