PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC - It seems “open season” has been declared on President Bouterse following the arrest by US authorities of his son Dino. A sharp-penned columnist on Wednesday described attempts at damage control by Bouterse and his aides as “clumsy”.
On Thursday an opposition leader who is positioning himself as Bouterse’s main contender at the next elections said the Americans arrested Dino because Suriname’s Government was not cleaning up its own mess. These attacks on Bouterse’s Government come on top of recent insinuations that the President has been in close contact with a convicted Guyanese drug baron and that his son supplied high-powered weapons that were used during violent uprisings in Suriname’s western neighbor.