GLEANER newspaper blaming Cuba for the political problems in Suriname

Jamaica Gleaner Hints at Cuban Involvement in Suriname

COUNTRY SECTION JAMAICA

(CANA, 28 Dec 82)

‘GLEANER’ HINTS AT CUBAN INVOLVEMENT IN SURINAME

FL282377 Bridgetown CANA in English 1952 GMT 28 Dec 82

[Text] Kingston, Jamaica, Dec 28, CANA~The GLEANER newspaper here today
obliquely blamed Cuba for the political problems in Suriname and has called
on Caribbean governments and regional and international press and labour
organisations to focus on the South American country in an attempt to
bring it back on the democratic path.
The Suriname military authorities said this month that 15 people including
trade union leaders, journalists, lawyers and university lecturers, were
shot and killed while attempting to escape custody after the discovery of
a coup plot.
But there are counter claims that the people were executed and that the
number was about 40.
In an editorial today, the Jamaican daily said that the evidence was “quite
substantial” of Cuban “meddling” in Suriname. It cited reports of Cuban
military advisors, and the fact that Suriname’s military leader, Daysi
Bouterse, “has not hidden his admiration for (Cuban President) Fidel Castro
and for what he calls a revolutionary type of government.”
The GLEANER in linking the recent events in the South American country and
the Cuban presence, called on organisations such as the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the Caribbean Publishing and Broadcasting
Association and the Inter-American Press Association to “turn the spotlight
on Suriname, because we are aware that the people of Suriname and some in
the government are sensitive to world opinion.”
“It is to be hoped…that Caribbean leaders will follow the lead of the
Jamaican government in expressing strong displeasure at what has happened
in Suriname, and calling for a return to constitutional rule and to
democracy,” the conservative daily said.
Jamaica on December 23 expressed outrage at the developments in Suriname,
several days after Barbados and Saint Lucia had made statements on the
matter.

Added the GLEANER: “It would be a pity if Grenada’s influence should
cause this region to move into the undemocratic path of Cuba, rather than
into the path which years and years and experience have shown us are
perhaps the best path—one of democracy—in which the people have a free
choice in deciding who should govern them periodically.”

META DATA

CSO: 3298/1181

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