The population of Suriname in 1999 was estimated at around 468,000 people, with a growth rate of 1.2%. The economy of Suriname was largely driven by its services sector, which accounted for around 57% of the country’s GDP. This was supplemented by the manufacturing and agricultural industries. Foreign relations in 1999 were largely positive, with the country having strong ties to many Latin American nations as well as the wider international community. Politically, Suriname had been a multi-party democracy since 1987 when it formally adopted a democratic system. The ruling party at this time was the New Front for Democracy and Development (NF), which had been in power since 1991. In 1999, Ronald Venetiaan was President and had been since 1991. See ethnicityology for Suriname in the year of 2018.
Yearbook 1999
Suriname. In May, Suriname’s currency suddenly collapsed against the dollar, which raised food prices and led to government-hostile street protests, including 20,000 participants in Paramaribo. On May 28, President Jules Wijdenbosch dismissed the government, and a few days later Parliament voted to dismiss him, but the dispute remains unresolved.
Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Suriname. Suriname’s strong man and former dictator Desi Bouterse, who carried out two coups, was sentenced in July in the absence of a Dutch court to 16 years in prison and $ 2.3 million in fines for drug trafficking to the Netherlands in 1989-97. Although Interpol has an arrest warrant on him, he intends to stand in the May 2000 presidential election for the NDP (National Democratic Party).
- Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of SUR which stands for Suriname and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.
In November 2000, the Amsterdam Supreme Court ruled that the domi desi Bouterse could again be prosecuted in absentia. He had already been convicted by a court in The Hague for leading a cocaine smuggling ring during and after his reign. The new prosecution involved murder in December 1982. Suriname had begun investigating the killings and had asked Holland for cooperation and assistance, but since no extradition agreements exist between the two countries, Suriname is not forced to send Bouterse to the Netherlands.
In the midst of the handover ceremony in mid-2001, former commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Glenn Sedney made his apologies to Suriname people for the “wounds and divisions” the military had been responsible for in the past.
A series of prison riots revealed the dire situation in the country’s prisons. In January, a riot broke out among the prisoners at the Geyersvlijt police station, where the situation was particularly serious according to a number of reports. A similar revolt took place in March, this time at the Limesgracht police station.
The low prices of bananas on the world market in April 2002 caused the state to close its banana plantations, which triggered protests and demands from the banana workers.
In May 2002, President Venetiaan declared the need for continuous freedom of expression. He pointed out that during the 1980’s and 90’s, frequent threats against journalists and newspaper and radio station editors had emerged. At the same time, the Venetian signed the “Chapultepec Declaration”, which is about freedom of expression. The country’s Journalist Federation welcomed the declaration but at the same time pointed out that a number of the country’s laws needed to be amended to bring them into line with the declaration.
