“I had some interesting meetings in the afternoon. The most interesting was with the Prime Minister of Surinam.”
Dictated Kenneth W. Dam’s daybook
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1983
“I had some interesting meetings in the afternoon. The most interesting was with the Prime Minister of Surinam.”
Surinam recently kicked out the Cuban Ambassador and ordered the Cubans to go down to one diplomat. The Cubans then decided to close the embassy. Surinam, which just a few months ago was in danger of becoming a Cuban puppet state, has rescued itself, using the cover of the Grenada operation, and is now coming to us seeking warm and close relations with the United States.
I pointed out to Alibux that there were two main problems, of which one was the high level of anti-American rhetoric, and the other was the human rights problem. He argued that the rhetoric question was being taken care of and would be greatly lessened with time and that as for human rights, the situation was very good, and the only problem was the — “December events.”
What happened last December was that Commander Bouterse, who runs the country with a strong hand, murdered much of his opposition, as well as the head of the local bar association and the head of the local trade union.
Whether anything will come of the move for closer relations, in view of these problems, remains to be seen, but in any event, it is clear that the balance of power on the northern coast of South America has shifted sharply away from the Soviet-Cuban axis and more toward the United States.
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