Suriname Seeks U.S. Support for World Bank Hydroelectric Loan

Ambassador Karamat reassures Washington of pro-Western stance while requesting critical development financing.

Date: June 5, 1979

In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Surinamese Ambassador Roel Karamat sought to reassure the United States that his country's recent decision to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and join the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) did not represent a change in its pro-Western foreign policy.

Details:

  • The meeting took place on June 5, 1979, in Secretary Vance's office in Washington D.C..
  • Ambassador Karamat opened the conversation by addressing the recent establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba (May 31, 1979). He insisted these moves did not indicate a change in policy, which would "continue to be low key, moderate, and pro-U.S." and that Suriname maintained a "pro-Western, democratic stance".
  • The Ambassador also expressed concern about U.S. efforts to link Suriname too closely with the English-speaking Caribbean, arguing that Suriname's primary interests lay with its regional neighbors in South America.
  • The second major topic was a direct plea from the Surinamese government for U.S. support for a critical World Bank (IBRD) loan for the Devis Falls Hydroelectric Dam project in Western Suriname.
  • Karamat feared the World Bank would reject the loan because of Suriname's relatively high per capita income and noted that while Brazil had offered to finance the project, Suriname "would prefer to deal with the World Bank rather than place its future in the hands of the Brazilians".
  • Secretary Vance promised to speak with World Bank President Robert McNamara about the project but made no firm commitments. (A footnote confirms the World Bank ultimately announced it would not provide the funding in August 1979).

Significance: This meeting, held less than a year before the 1980 coup, provides a crucial snapshot of the Arron government's precarious balancing act. It shows a government trying to assert its independence on the world stage by joining the Non-Aligned Movement and opening relations with Cuba, while simultaneously trying to reassure its most important Western partner, the United States, that it remained a pro-democratic ally. The desperate plea for U.S. help in securing a World Bank loan highlights the economic fragility that underpinned the political instability of the pre-coup era. The failure to secure this loan would have been a significant blow to the Arron government's development plans, contributing to the economic discontent that the military would later exploit.

Source:

[1] U.S. Department of State, "Memorandum of Conversation," June 5, 1979, Document 342, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXIII, Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean.

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