Warren Christopher meets Surinamese PM Arron on Cuba threat

U.S. deputy secretary and democratically elected leader discuss regional security and economic development one year…

Date: October 10, 1978

In a meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Surinamese Prime Minister Henck Arron reiterated his government's deep concerns about Cuban influence in the Caribbean and stressed the importance of a close, friendly relationship with the United States.

Details:

  • The meeting took place on October 10, 1978, in Washington D.C. The Deputy Secretary began by thanking Suriname for its support on difficult votes in the UN and OAS, particularly regarding the recent crisis in Nicaragua.
  • Prime Minister Arron asked for the current U.S. assessment of Cuba, recalling a similar conversation with the Secretary of State a year prior.
  • Deputy Secretary Christopher stated that while there had been some improvements (release of political prisoners), the U.S. remained concerned about "Cuba’s African adventures and its possible aspirations for revolutionary leadership in the Third World".
  • In his closing remarks, Prime Minister Arron emphasized the importance of the U.S. role, noting that "Suriname had Guyana right next door which meant in effect that it had Cuba next door." He stated that it was important to seek friends before times of trouble and that he considered the U.S. and Suriname to be "very close friends".
  • Arron also detailed his country's economic problems, including a critical shortage of skilled labor due to the mass exodus to the Netherlands before independence and difficulties in financing major development projects in Western Suriname.

Significance: This meeting, just over a year before the 1980 coup, underscores the consistent foreign policy of the democratically elected Arron government. It shows a leadership that was actively trying to align itself with the United States, viewing a strong relationship with Washington as a strategic buffer against the perceived threat of Cuban expansionism via its neighbor, Guyana. Arron's repeated focus on the "Cuba problem" and his framing of the U.S. and Suriname as "very close friends" highlights his government's pro-Western, anti-communist stance. This provides a crucial baseline for understanding the dramatic geopolitical shift that would occur after the pro-Cuban Bouterse regime seized power.

Source:

[1] U.S. Department of State, "Memorandum of Conversation," October 10, 1978, Document 340, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXIII, Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean.

Link:

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v23/d340

Internal Link:

Date:
October 10, 1978
Categories:
Cold War, Desi Bouterse, Diplomacy, Log, Matthew Smith
Tags:
Cold War, Cuban Influence, Memcon, Us Suriname Relations
Boxes:
MW Zotero
Years:
1978
Persons:
Christopher Warren, Henck Arron, Viron Vaky
META DATA
    Scroll to Top