History of Suriname: Encyclopedia II - History of Suriname - Post-independence Era

History of Suriname - Post-independence Era

In 1954 Suriname gained self-government, with the Netherlands retaining control of defence and foreign affairs.

In 1973, the local government, led by the NPK (a largely Creole party)) started negotiations with the Dutch government about independence, which was granted at November 25, 1975. The Dutch instituted an aid programme worth US$1.5 billion to last till 1985. The first President of the country was Johan Ferrier, with Henck Arron (leader of the Surinam National Party) as Prime Minister. Roughly a third of the population emigrated to the Netherlands, fearing that the new country would not be able to survive.

In 1980 the government of Henck Arron was overthrown in a military coup led by Sergeant-Major Desi Bouterse. President Ferrier refused to recognise the new government, appointing Henk Chin A Sen (of the Nationalist Republican Party). Another coup followed five months later, with the army replacing Ferrier with Chin A Sen. These developments were largely welcomed by a population that expected the new army-installed government to put an end to corruption and improve the standard of living. This was despite the fact that the new regime banned opposition parties and became increasingly dictatorial. The Dutch initially accepted the new government, however relations between Suriname and the Netherlands collapsed when 15 members of the political opposition were killed by the army on December 8, 1982 in Fort Zeelandia. This event is also known as the December killings (Decembermoorden in Dutch). The Dutch and American cut off their aid in protest at the move, leading to Bouterse looking towards countries such as Grenada, Nicaragua, Cuba and Libya for help.

In 1985, the ban on opposition parties was lifted, and work began on devising a new constitution. The following year saw the start of an anti-governement rebellion of the Maroons in the interior, calling themselves the Jungle Commando and led by Ronnie Brunswijk. The Bouterse government violently tried to suppress the insurgncy by burning villages and other similar means. Many Maroons fled to French Guiana.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Post-independence Era", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki