BOUTERSE ADMITS TRAVELING TO GUYANA DESPITE INTERNATIONAL

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