The 62-year-old president has no fewer than five ministers from his cabinet in his retinue. He hopes to make both politicians and enterprising Netherlands enthusiastic about the new Suriname that he wants to shape after ten years of Desi Bouterse’s presidency. If it is up to him, for example, Dutch farmers who have problems with their nitrogen management will simply come to Suriname.
Chan Santokhi comes to the Netherlands without Ronnie Brunswijk, his vice president and leader of the ABOP political party. Brunswijk was convicted in absentia in the Netherlands at the end of the last century for involvement in cocaine smuggling and could therefore be arrested upon his arrival. But the president wants to talk about “law and justice” in the run-up to his visit, not about uncomfortable government partners.
Santokhi speaks with de Volkskrant in the so-called Cabinet of the President. It is a stone’s throw from Fort Zeelandia, the place where Bouterse had fifteen civilians tortured and murdered in December 1982. The name of Bouterse, again sentenced to twenty years in prison in August but still at large, will be explicitly mentioned by Santokhi only once during the interview. But there is no question that the president is still struggling with the legacy his predecessor left for him after May last year.
Bouterse chose for many reasons to turn further away from the Netherlands, the former colonizer. Immediately after you took office, you started to strengthen relations. Why?
‘I have taken over a country with a financial crisis, a debt crisis, a socio-economic crisis and a monetary crisis. But also the perhaps most serious crisis that has been created in the past ten years: a moral crisis, a crisis of norms and values. This is reflected in the overall policy.
‘To manage all these crises, I need international cooperation. And for that I must first restore confidence in my country. Otherwise I can’t knock on the door of the International Monetary Fund, I can’t get investors this way and I can’t turn to the international capital market. I have to show that my country deserves respect, that it has a constitutional state, that it respects international conventions.
“In 2020 we had a really bad image. The hundreds of millions that the previous government borrowed from private markets has not been used for the development of the country. That money is gone.
‘I have been talking to Dutch politicians since 2013, but Suriname was no longer on the Dutch agenda. Now we’re back on the radar. With my first phone call with Prime Minister Rutte, we immediately clicked, as if we had known each other for years. We immediately decided to appoint ambassadors again and to start visits back and forth. And now the time has come to meet.’
And what does your agenda look like?
‘We believe that the Netherlands can play a role in the recovery of our economy. Also because of the name and influence that the Netherlands has with the IMF and the World Bank. The Netherlands can get money from institutions that it does not need itself due to its strong economy. Then I say: Can we maybe use some of that money? We want to have a business conversation about this and are prepared to meet all the conditions.
‘But in addition, now that we are slowly approaching the end of the covid pandemic, I see opportunities for Dutch investors. Take the poultry and livestock sector. In view of all the negative environmental effects, this poses a significant challenge for the Netherlands. Then I say: come here, we do have that space. Or think of the Netherlands and its waterworks. We too have a low and endangered coastline, so there is a lot to do here.
‘Is land a problem for you in the Netherlands? We have land, let’s set up that agro-industry here together. That will be the tone of my agenda, which is why I will come with Surinamese businessmen in addition to ministers. I want to strengthen the rule of law and institutions in Suriname, and at the same time develop my country economically.’
And that at a time when countries often turn away from the former colonizer. You are looking for it again.
‘I bet on the strengths of our shared past. Look, I have the feeling that sometimes the emotional sides are overexposed. Of course it is important if, for example, the mayor of Amsterdam takes the initiative and apologizes for the slavery past. These are matters that need to be discussed in a responsible manner in these modern times.
‘But Suriname has been an independent country for more than 45 years. That too is rock solid. If we seek new rapprochement with the Netherlands, then it is by no means the case that we have to give up our proud independence.’
But can it not be, quite simply, that Suriname needs the Netherlands more than the other way around?
‘I do understand the perspective of a Dutch merchant who says: “I am not waiting for Suriname, that country has so many issues, that is unnecessarily complicated for me, it gives me too many restrictions, I will look for my opportunities somewhere different as an entrepreneur.”
‘Yes, I can understand all that. Also in a political sense, that people in The Hague say: ‘Mr Santokhi, don’t put Suriname back on our agenda, that chapter is closed here.’ Clear. And yet I want to open the chapter again, but this time in a different way. I want to show that Suriname can indeed be of importance to the Netherlands. I want to make that difference.’
And how stable can you present yourself? You yourself mentioned Bouterse’s legacy. But in your government with Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk and his party, the ABOP, you also have a partner who sometimes seems to go his own way and thinks more of himself than of the national interest. There are reports of people from the ABOP acquiring large tracts of land rich in resources.
‘The election results gave only two different options for forming a government coalition. We had indicated in advance that Bouterse’s NDP was not an option for us. With the ABOP and with the two other, small government parties, we manage on the basis of good mutual trust, on the basis of agreements about the unity of policy.
‘Of course there are differences with the ABOP. From history, from both ideology. But that has not prevented us from drawing up a common agenda. Sure, there are issues, there are incidents. It’s not for nothing that I sit down with the vice president at least three times a week and not everything runs smoothly. If I find that ministers do not adhere to the common agenda, I hold them accountable. But I think we’ve found each other reasonably well so far.’
Do you think that Suriname will always focus on the Netherlands, or do you see your country eventually becoming anchored within the Caribbean region and South America?
‘We are certainly in favor of regional integration. We are working with Brazil, the president will be visiting here soon. The same applies to our neighboring countries Guyana and French Guiana. Cooperation with the United States and Canada is also important to us. And I’m going to Mexico.
‘At the same time, you have to look at the historically formed collaboration with the Netherlands, including the Surinamese diaspora. The special relationship with the Netherlands will always remain. It is now up to the political authorities on both sides to seize opportunities in this regard.’
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