O Estado De Sao Paulo: “GENERAL VENTURINI JUSTIFIES AID TO SURINAME” -format
General Venturini Justifies Aid to Suriname
Latin America Report No. 2717 – August 1983 – ADA348313
Sao Paulo – 0 ESTADO DE SAO PAULO in Portuguese 29 Jun 83 p 5
/Text/ Brasilia—General Danilo Venturini asserted yesterday in the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies “that there is no information that
Suriname has made a choice in favor of the socialist bloc.” The general was
in that country in mid-April as the personal representative and special envoy
of President Figueiredo to contain Cuban influence in Suriname. He admitted,
however, that there were two pro-Cuban ministers in the Bouterse Government
one of whom, Sital, has already, left) and that the Cuban ambassador in Paramaribo
is highly trained in revolution and counterrevolution.
Venturini made an opening statement and then replied to the deputies’ questions,
spending 2% hours explaining his mission to Suriname. He said five times that
one of Brazil’s objectives is to prevent South America from being involved in
the East-West confrontation.
Deputy Jose Fogaca (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, Rio Grande do Sul)
considered the Venturini mission “strange and perhaps unusual because it ran
counter to a tradition of Brazilian diplomacy, which is not to create areas of
influence. According to the deputy, with that mission, Brazil was inaugurating
a “policy of satellitization.” Fogaca recalled the charge by the U.S. newspaper,
WASHINGTON POST, that the plan for the destabilization of the Suriname regime
was almost consummated by the CIA. But the plan was overturned in congress.
He declared that Brazil was “crammed with American reports” about the situation
in Suriname and stressed that although the United States is against the Bouterse
regime, there were “subtle expressions of sympathy” for the Venturini mission.
Replying to the deputy, the special minister for property affairs and secretary
of the National Security Council declared that President Figueiredo had two
courses to follow with regard to the Suriname problem: to continue to support
the mixed commissions between the two countries or rescind the matter and try
to solve it in another way. Suriname complained about the slowness of the
commissions. In Figueiredo’s letter, which Venturini presented to Bouterse,
it was clear that he would speak in the name of the president of the republic.
“I am not the one who is going to say whether President Figueiredo acted well.
But the mission of the secretary of the National Security Council is to study,
plan and coordinate. Suriname is already beginning to receive aid. The
Brazilian ministries are not asking questions about the aid to be given to
Suriname. They are taking measures because it is an order from the president.”
General Venturini said that Brazil “does not have the slightest doubt” that
potentially Suriname can represent a foreign threat to Brazil if it is involved
by extracontinental interests: “A plane can leave Paramaribo and without great
difficulty reach the mouth of the Amazon River. The runway of the airport of
the capital of Suriname is 3,300 meters long and a KLM Jumbo takes off from
it every day. Thus, if Suriname is involved by third parties, against Brazilian
interests, Brazil will act.”
Satellites
Venturini gave assurance that Brazil does not want to “satellitize” anybody
and that was made clear in the handshake that Lieutenant-Colonel Bouterse gave
him, expressing the proposition of: Brazil for the Brazilians, Suriname for the
Surinamese, and South America for the South Americans.”
The chief of the mission to Suriname said that Brazil does not utilize “any
intelligence service but our own” and pointed out that when Minister Saraiva
Guerreiro was in Paramaribo in January of last year, he was given an extensive
explanation of the situation in the country.
Responding to question by Deputy Francisco Benjamin (Social Democratic Party,
Bahia), Venturini said that all of the military material that will be supplied
to Suriname is Brazilian built but that the requests thus far are limited to
uniforms, field equipment (tents), normal material for instruction and training.
The air force there is rudimentary, almost nonexistent, and the navy is interested
only in river patrol launches.
Incident
There was a minor disturbance in the chamber of the Chamber of Deputies foreign
affairs committee when Deputy Joao Herman Neto (PMDB, Sao Paulo) expressed his
amazement that General Venturini “is not telling us the truth.” He suggested
that Brazil’s action in Suriname was a springboard for future intervention in
Central America. In his view, “Brazil is acting as a subimperialist.”
General Venturini reacted: “I cannot accept having it said that I am not
telling the truth. Therefore, I cannot reply to your questions.” While the
PDS deputies applauded, Parana Deputy Sebastiao Curio (PDS) shouted: “He is a
communist.”
Venturini declared also that Suriname occupied “a special strategic position”
as a link between the Caribbean and the Amazon Region. Without the financial
support of the Netherlands and the political support of the United States, the
Bouterse regime sought a dialog with other countries, including Mexico, Cuba
and Libya “but no promise was concretely implemented so they turned to us.”
When Venturini arrived in Paramaribo in mid-April, Bouterse was ready to announce
a new government program. But he suspended the announcement to hear what the
Brazilian envoy had to say.
8711
CSO: 3342/142
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4 August 1983