Dési Bouterse

Dési Bouterse
Dési Bouterse
	Official portrait, 2010
8th President of Suriname
	In office; 12 August 2010 – 16 July 2020
Vice President	Robert Ameerali; (2010–2015); Ashwin Adhin; (2015–2020);
Preceded by	Ronald Venetiaan
Succeeded by	Chan Santokhi
Leader of Suriname
	De facto; 29 December 1990 – 16 September 1991
President	Johan Kraag
Preceded by	Ivan Graanoogst
Succeeded by	Ronald Venetiaan
Chairman of the National Military Council
	In office; 25 February 1980 – 27 November 1987
President	Johan Ferrier; Henk Chin A Sen; Fred Ramdat Misier;
Preceded by	Position established; Johan Ferrier (as President)
Succeeded by	Position abolished;; Fred Ramdat Misier (as President)
President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations
	In office; 30 August 2013 – 4 December 2014
Preceded by	Ollanta Humala
Succeeded by	José Mujica
President of the National Democratic Party
	In office; 4 July 1987 – 13 July 2024
Preceded by	Party established
Succeeded by	Jennifer Geerlings-Simons
Personal details
Born	Desiré Delano Bouterse; 13 October 1945; Domburg, Suriname
Died	23 December 2024 (aged 79); Copi Nature Reserve, Suriname
Party	National Democratic
Spouses	; Ingrid Figueira (m. 1970; sep. 1990) ; Ingrid Waldring (m. 1990)
Children	3, including Dino
Military service
Allegiance	Netherlands; (until 1975); Suriname; (from 1975);
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Army; (until 1975); Surinamese Land Forces; (from 1975);
Years of service	1968–1992
Rank	Lieutenant general

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Desiré Delano Bouterse (13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024) was a Surinamese military officer, politician, and convicted drug trafficker who served as the eighth president of Suriname from 2010 to 2020, having previously led the country twice as a military dictator from 1980 to 1987 and again from 1990 to 1991. He was the founding president of the National Democratic Party (NDP) from 1987 to 2024.

Bouterse was a controversial figure, held responsible by some for numerous human rights violations committed during his military rule in the 1980s. Most notable were the December murders in 1982. He was prosecuted for the murders, and a trial was initiated, but the National Assembly extended amnesty to him in 2012. After the trial was forced to continue, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 29 November 2019. He was also suspected of having directed the Moiwana massacre in 1986 against a village of Maroons during the Surinamese Interior War which pitted his government first against the maroon guerrilla group Jungle Commando, led by his former bodyguard, Ronnie Brunswijk, and then against the indigenous group Tucayana Amazonas.

On 16 July 1999, Bouterse was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands to 11 years' imprisonment after being convicted of trafficking 474 kg (1,045 lb) of cocaine. Bouterse always maintained his innocence. He claimed the star witness in the case, Patrick van Loon, was bribed by the Dutch government. According to the United States diplomatic cables leak released in 2011, Bouterse was active in the drug trade until 2006. Europol issued a warrant for his arrest. At that time, he could not be arrested in Suriname, because he was still president. As the conviction came before his election as president, he risked arrest if he left Suriname.

In 2023, he was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment for the 1982 murders of fifteen political dissidents. He was reported missing by the Surinamese authorities in January 2024 after refusing to report to prison. He was considered a fugitive until his death.

Bouterse died on 23 December 2024, at the age of 79, while on the run following his conviction.