{"id":151953,"date":"2023-03-16T11:02:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T10:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=151953"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:41","slug":"surinamese-will-feel-more-and-more-discontent-resulting-in-a-stronger-call-for-bouterse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/03\/16\/surinamese-will-feel-more-and-more-discontent-resulting-in-a-stronger-call-for-bouterse\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Surinamese will feel more and more discontent, resulting in a stronger call for Bouterse’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Suriname was rocked by violent protests in February, including the storming of the parliament building and attacks on shops and petrol stations. As emeritus professor of Caribbean History Alex van Stipriaan points out, the economic downturn in the South American country, which was a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1975, is causing widespread discontent. “I think the situation in Suriname will remain bleak for quite a long time.”<\/p>\n

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So what sparked these sudden outbreaks of violence and destruction?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe unrest was obviously inspired by the recent stormings of government buildings in the United States and Brazil. The immediate trigger was Suriname\u2019s dire economic situation. The middle and working class are really struggling. That\u2019s partly due to the fact that Suriname imports most of its products. If prices soar in the rest of the world, the same will happen in Suriname, while incomes remain low. Some of my friends in Suriname are feeling desperate. Some of them are even losing teeth because they don\u2019t have money for healthy food.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Alex van Stipriaan is emeritus professor of Caribbean History at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication. He has published several books on Maroon culture, the history of the Surinamese diaspora and the Netherlands’ legacy of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

So where did it all go wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was all pretty predictable, to be honest. The previous Bouterse government took out massive loans without any guarantees that they could be repaid. When President Santokhi\u2019s government took over in 2020, it started with an empty treasury and tons of foreign debt. The terms of these loans have since expired, and it all needs to be repaid. It was therefore clear from the outset that the new government would be facing huge economic problems. Santokhi obviously made all sorts of wonderful promises to win the elections. That makes sense as campaign rhetoric, but it\u2019s going to come back and bite you when you need to take really unpopular measures afterwards.\u201d<\/p>

So why is Santokhi unable to do something about those debts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe might have managed if he\u2019d started right after the elections. That way, the problems would have stuck to the last president, and he could have started building from there. But he didn\u2019t, and that really worked against him.<\/p>

\u201cThe second problem is that he appointed lots of friends and family members who weren\u2019t necessarily the right people for the job. He justified that by saying: I can\u2019t trust anyone outside of my inner circle. That\u2019s just the same old politics that people have become cynical about.\u201d<\/p>

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBas van der Schot<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Chinese entrepreneurs and shopkeepers were specifically targeted during the protests. Why is that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are two groups of Chinese people in Suriname. The \u2018original\u2019 Chinese, who have been around since the 19th century, are one of these groups. Most of them are middle class or above. The protests weren\u2019t targeted at them. There are also the \u2018new\u2019 Chinese, who arrived from China in the past 25 years. They work day and night for very little pay. As a result, lots of Surinamese feel they\u2019re being out-competed. This group of Chinese people also owns almost all the supermarkets in Suriname now. That means the Surinamese depend on them for groceries, on the one hand, while some people also feel they\u2019re stealing their jobs. That\u2019s led to a lot of resentment.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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