Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PARAMARIBO509
2007-09-20 19:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paramaribo
Cable title:  

(C)Briefing information for October 6

Tags:  PGOV PREL MARR NS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3407
RR RUEHAO
DE RUEHPO #0509/01 2631935
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 201935Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9693
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1490
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO 1168
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARAMARIBO 000509 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES FROM AMBASSADOR
LISA BOBBIE SCHREIBER HUGHES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR NS
SUBJECT: (C)Briefing information for October 6
meeting between Defense Secretary Gates and
Surinamese Minister of Defense Ivan Fernald

Reftel: Paramaribo 501

Classified by Ambassador LBSH for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

-------
Preview
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARAMARIBO 000509

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES FROM AMBASSADOR
LISA BOBBIE SCHREIBER HUGHES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR NS
SUBJECT: (C)Briefing information for October 6
meeting between Defense Secretary Gates and
Surinamese Minister of Defense Ivan Fernald

Reftel: Paramaribo 501

Classified by Ambassador LBSH for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

--------------
Preview
--------------
1.(C) During our 18 September meeting, Defense
Minister Fernald told me that he looks forward to the
chance to meet you during your short visit to
Suriname on Saturday afternoon, October 6. Fernald
will join me in welcoming you at the Johan Adolph
Pengel International Airport (approximately one hours
drive from Suriname's capital city of Paramaribo).
Given the compressed schedule, Fernald has agreed to
meet with you at the VIP lounge of the airport,
rather than at Defense Ministry headquarters in
Paramaribo. Immediately following your (short)
bilateral meeting, you, the Minister, and Ambassador
Schreiber Hughes will proceed to visit the USNS
Comfort via a 30-minute helicopter ride.

--------------
Minister Ivan Fernald: a Biography
--------------

2.(SBU) Prior to assuming his current position in
September 2005, the Minister had no appreciable
military background. The 51-year-old Fernald has a
teaching degree in physical education, and has worked
as an educator (mainly athletics) for most of his
adult life. The Minister has an impressive career as
an amateur athlete, having medaled in both karate and
taekwondo. He is married with two children, speaks
Dutch, English, and Sranan Tongo (the local urinamese
language),and is a member of the National Party of
Suriname (NPS, the Creole-based party of the
resident; the largest political party of the
governing coalition). Until his nomination as
Minister, Fernald was not known to be
politically active.

3.(C) As Minister, Fernald has not made much
progress in improving relations between the uniformed
military and its civilian leadership. Post
attributes this in part to his lack of experience in
defense matters, and in part to long-standing
antipathy between the Office of the Minister and the

well-respected Commander of the Armed Forces,
Colonel Ernst Mercuur (it should be noted that both
Fernald and Mercuur appear to enjoy strong
relationships with President Ronald Venetiaan).
Nevertheless, Post has a good working relationship
with both the Minister and the CHOD, and considers
Fernald one of the most accessible members of the
President's Cabinet. Both the Minister and the
CHOD recognize and appreciate the support they
receive from the USG, and try to demonstrate their
appreciation to the extent that they are able. On
the sensitive issue of Article 98, Fernald's is the
lone government voice urging support for the U.S.
position.

-------------- --------------
Background Information and Issues: Gates/Fernald
Bilateral
-------------- --------------

4.(SBU) Issue 1: Suriname's military is under-manned,
under-resourced, and unpopular with the Surinamese
public yet shares responsibility for defending the
nation against myriad threats.

Background Information: Severely under-manned and
under-resourced, the military is nevertheless
responsible for the near-impossible task of
safeguarding all land/riverine/airspace within
Suriname's porous borders. Two border disputes with
Guyana ' one on land in the interior; one maritime --
remain highly charged issues for Suriname's military.
The maritime dispute was submitted to the OAS,
International Law of the Sea (ILOS) tribunal for
resolution, and the currently-embargoed ILOS decision
will be released today (20 November). In nticipation
of that release, Minister Fernald declared to the

PARAMARIBO 00000509 002 OF 004


press that Suriname's armed forces would stand ready
to defend the nation's sovereignty. What Fernald's
statement means exactly remains unclear, probably
also to him. Post conjectures that Fernald intended
a political statement to assure the Surinamese public
that the MOD is on top of the matter.

According to a Ministry of Defense analysis of
strategic interests, threats to Suriname are
(in rank order): transnational crime (e.g., narcotics
trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, illegal
immigration and migration and the illegal arms trade,
as well as illegal logging and gold mining),
environmental pollution, natural and manmade
disasters, smuggling, kidnapping, fragility of public
utilities, infectious disease, deforestation, weak
economy based on a lack of economic diversification,
and weak governmental institutions. Given this
laundry list of a (mostly non-military) threat
environment, compounded by residual public mistrust
due to memory of military coups (reftel),Suriname's
armed forces face serious challenges that they are
ill-equipped to handle. In an effort to combat
increasing crime in Suriname's jungle interior, the
Ministry of Defense has partnered with the Ministry
of Justice and Police to patrol some of the more
remote areas of the country.

5.(C) Issue 2: Defense Minister Fernald is focused on
military outreach to the civilian community, arguably
at the expense of the military mission.

Background Information: Since military rule ended in
Suriname in 1992, there has been a strained
elationship between the civilian government and
the armed forces. In 1992, during President
Venetiaan's first term, the civilian authority took
bold steps to strip the military of its overreaching
constitutional powers, despite strong protests from
the armed forces. During Venetiaan's last term, his
Minister of Defense was disliked by many in the armed
forces who perceived him as unresponsive to their
needs (above text from reftel para. 8). Since his
installation two years ago, current Defense Minister
Fernald has made it his personal mission to improve
the military's image with the Surinamese public.
He appears strongly focused on issues surrounding
civilian control of the military, recognizing that a
mutually respectful relationship is essential.
Although these objectives are laudable and essential,
some within the armed forces grumble that the
Minister's attention is too focused on civilian
outreach (particularly through sports; an MOD-
sponsored marathon is scheduled for this fall),at
the expense of the pressing need to better-resource
and professionalize his army, seven-boat navy, and
five plane (none of which can currently fly) air
force. In this regard, Fernald appears to share the
same criticism as that levied on his predecessor.

6.(C)Issue 3: United States engagement with
Suriname's Ministry of Defense and uniformed services
greatly benefits our bilateral relationship.

Background Information: DoD and the Ministry of
Defense have a strong, multifaceted relationship
which includes extensive humanitarian as well
as military aid. Our USG relationship with
Suriname's MOD and the Suriname Defense Forces is one
of the best that we have in this otherwise sometimes
prickly bilateral relationship. Not coincidentally,
the MOD -- together with the Ministry of Justice and
Police, where we also enjoy good relations , are the
only two Ministries that in the past could regularly
count on USG development assistance: modest amounts
of IMET, FMF, and INCLE (above text from reftel para.
5). Although it has not signed an Article 98
agreement, nor has Suriname yet become a signatory to
the ICC.

In addition to IMET and FMF, Suriname has been an
eager MEDRETE recipient, has embraced the opportunity
to receive the USN Hospital Ship Comfort, and will
also welcome New Horizons in 2008. The Surinamese
military and civil society are also enthusiastically

PARAMARIBO 00000509 003 OF 004


partnering with the State of South Dakota in the
National Guard State Partnership Program. Still
under consideration by the Surinamese Government is a
proposal from the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds to
establish a jungle test center in the western part of
the country. Through DoD continued strong engagement
in Suriname, the USG demonstrates support for the
professionalization of Suriname's armed forces, for
strong civil-military relations, and for democracy
and the rule of law in Suriname.

--------------
Talking Points
--------------

-- Pleased to have this opportunity to visit Suriname
and the USNS Comfort, and appreciate your flexibility
in agreeing to meet here at the International
Airport. Also pleased that you will be able to join
me in visiting the Comfort, once we conclude our
meeting.

--Understand that the Ministry of Defense and
Surinamese Armed Forces, particularly the
NCCR (please spell out acronym),together with the
Ministry of Health, have been strong partners with us
in making the Comfort's visit a true benefit for the
people of Suriname.

-- Hope that you see the Comfort as a strong
demonstration of support and friendship from the
people and government of the United States to the
people and government of Suriname. Certainly, that
was the intent of President Bush when he sent the
Comfort and its doctors and nurses to this region.

-- On the subject of support and friendship:
understand that our United States Southern
Command has a strong, longstanding, multifaceted
relationship with your Ministry and armed forces
which includes humanitarian as well as military aid.
I hope and expect that we will be able to continue to
provide both IMET and FMF assistance, recognizing
that the ICC and Article 98 will remain critical
issues in that regard.

-- I also understand that New Horizons will be coming
to Suriname in 2008, and know that we can count on
your partnership and support to make this huge
humanitarian and infrastructure support program a
success. At this time, do you have any special
expectations for New Horizons?

-- We already appreciate your strong support for
Suriname's involvement in the U.S. National Guard-
sponsored State Partnership Program. The State of
South Dakota is an enthusiastic partner to the
Republic of Suriname, and I am sure that this
relationship will only grow and become more robust in
the future.

-- I was advised that last June you and your Ministry
gave representatives from the U.S. Army's Yuma
Proving Grounds the opportunity to brief the
Surinamese government on Yuma's proposal to establish
a jungle test center. Do you have any sense yet
whether the Government of Suriname will agree to this
proposal?

-- We remain strongly committed to helping you in
your work to further professionalize Suriname's armed
forces. We recognize that domestic resources remain
a problem. Is this situation likely to improve in
the near future?

-- I also understand that you are committed to
civilian outreach, notably through sport, and was
impressed to learn of your own academic prowess.
Physical fitness is always a challenge for our
overworked staffs. How do you find the state of your
own forces? Health and fitness'

--Speaking of readiness: what is the biggest threat
currently facing Suriname? How would you assess your
current ability to address it/them?

PARAMARIBO 00000509 004 OF 004



--How does Suriname view the recent decision by the
ILOS regarding the maritime border?

-- Thanks for taking the time to meet. Shall we
proceed to the helicopter for the trip out to the
Comfort?

SCHREIBER HUGHES