Former president Desi Bouterse of Suriname does not agree with the visit of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to his country. Bouterse says he does not understand why Suriname has invited Rutte. “Let Rutte rot,” he told a journalist from the Suriname Herald news site on Saturday.
Bouterse, who was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison in the Netherlands for drug trafficking in 1999, made his statements during a small protest demonstration in Paramaribo against the policies of President Chan Santokhi.
A spokesperson for Bouterse agrees with the statements of the ex-president. “A large part of the Surinamese people are not waiting for the visit of a Dutch prime minister. There is a lot of misery, people already have enough on their mind,” the spokesman told the ANP.
Pinning people
Bouterse accused the Netherlands of having 19 million euros from Suriname in the conversation with the website. This is money from Suriname that was confiscated by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service when it was sent to China via Schiphol. “People are screwed (have a hard time), children die, nurses cannot be paid and then you keep my 19 million and then come and tell a nice story in my country, let Rutte rot,” said Bouterse.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Liesje Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation will pay a two-day visit to Suriname next week. The last Prime Minister of the Netherlands to visit Suriname was Jan Peter Balkenende in 2008.