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Vol. 32, Issue 32 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN August 6-12, 2021
BOUTERSE
AWAITS
RULING
The end seems near for former
Suriname Prez Desi Bouterse
By Bert Wilkinson
His health is clearly failing,
his multiracial party has significantly
declined in popularity
and surviving relatives are keeping
up the pressure to ensure
that former Surinamese military
strongman turned elected
President Desi Bouterse is held
judicially accountable for the
late 1982 mass executions of 15
government opponents.
At the end of August, one of
Suriname’s highest courts will
likely reaffirm a 20-year jail sentence
on the former president
following last week’s conclusion
of trial proceedings against
Bouterse for the execution of
the 15.
Among them were four journalists,
clergymen, academics
and labor leaders, all of whom
Bouterse and his military junta,
which was ruling the country at
the time, had been accused of
plotting with The Netherlands
and other western nations to
reverse a Bouterse-led February
1980 coup. The 15 were killed
at a downtown Dutch colonial
era fort right next door to the
presidential secretariat, sparking
bedlam in society and political
tremors in the region. Coup
makers had said they were angry
against the state over multiple
issues including a very strange
and unusual demand for a labor
union for soldiers.
Bouterse and other top officials
of his opposition National
Democratic Party (NDP)
appeared before the court tribunal
on Friday. This was the
very first time that the former
two-term elected president had
opened his mouth in his own
defense as he accused Holland
of plotting with the group and
others to destabilize the country.
He also blamed The Hague
for using every trick in its armor
to oust him and his government,
stirring up and financing
a seven-year bush war that
killed more than 500 people and
helping to ruin the economy
during the seven full years of
military rule.
“Whatever the final verdict of
this legal process may be, history
will acquit me of all blame
for the sad, traumatic event of
Dec. 8, 1982,” a clearly ailing
NDP leader said. The court will
hand down its ruling on Aug.
30. For all intents and purposes,
the end seems to be near for the
75-year-old former army sergeant
who in early 1980 had
staged a coup against the elected
administration.
After the hearing, Bouterse
did appear to suggest that
In this June 23, 2021 photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference,
in New York. Associated Press/Mary Altaffer/File
Caribbean politicians join calls for
Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign
By Nelson A. King
Caribbean American legislators
in New York on Tuesday
joined other elected officials
in calling on Gov. Andrew
Cuomo to resign after a state
investigation report found
that the governor had fostered
a culture of workplace misconduct
and had sexually harassed
numerous women.
Congresswoman Yvette D.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican
immigrants, joined Democratic
members of the New
York congressional delegation
in renewing their call on
Cuomo to step down.
“Let me be very clear, I
reiterate my call for the governor
to step down and applaud
Attorney General (Letitia)
James for conducting such a
comprehensive investigation.
Full stop,” Clarke, who represents
the predominantly
Caribbean 9th Congressional
District in Brooklyn, told Caribbean
Life.
“Sexual harassment is
extremely serious, and no one
is above the law,” she added.
“The glaring examples of
sexual harassment, coupled
with retaliatory behavior and
the attempting to disparage
the strong enough women to
come forward, are disappointing
and unacceptable.
“I echo Attorney General
James in saying ‘No man — no
matter how powerful’ — can
be allowed to harass women or
violate our human rights laws,
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