VZCZCXRO6475
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHPO #0285 1361525
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161525Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8321
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO 1028
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 1544
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1549

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000285 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR - LLUFTIG 
CARACAS FOR LEGATT 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM SNAR PGOV PREL NS
SUBJECT: BOUTERSE ADMITS TRAVELING TO GUYANA DESPITE INTERNATIONAL 
WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST 
 
Reftel: PARAMARIBO 284 
 
¶1. (SBU) Desi Bouterse, former military dictator and current 
opposition party chairman, disclosed to journalists on May 
13 that he recently made a trip to neighboring Guyana.  The 
trip was made despite an outstanding Interpol warrant for 
his arrest issued after he was convicted in 1999 by a Dutch 
Court for narcotics trafficking.  He mentioned his trip to 
explain why he had not yet visited the affected areas of 
recent heavy flooding in Suriname's interior. (See reftel). 
 
¶2. (SBU) Even though the Interpol warrant against him should 
keep him confined to Suriname, Bouterse tersely said that he 
does not worry about being arrested and that he travels to 
Guyana and Brazil often, but keeps his travels quiet so as 
not to cause problems for "friends." Bouterse said that he 
was in Guyana to discuss matters of national security, but 
declined to make any further comments. To our knowledge, 
this was the first time that Bouterse explicitly admitted to 
leaving Suriname since his conviction. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Bouterse said that he will go to the interior this 
week and likely stay for two weeks to assess the situation 
and offer his help. Bouterse's party, the NDP, is the 
biggest single political party in Suriname and his 
constituency includes a large part of the population in the 
disaster area. In the May 2005 elections, the NDP won four 
of its 15 Parliament seats from voters in the interior. 
 
LEONARD