PARAMARIBO, Suriname – A former president of Guyana Donald Ramotar on Saturday, delivered a scathing rebuke of Israel, condemning their alleged human rights violations against the Palestinian people in Gaza and highlighting the international community’s failure to intervene.
Donald RamotarRamotar who was speaking during the funeral ceremony for the late Suriname president Desi Bouterse in here, also condemned the support the Netherlands provides to the Jewish state.
Ramotar and former opposition leader of Guyana, Joseph Harmon, long-time friends of Bouterse, were the only international speakers at the funeral, which drew tens of thousands of attendees and onlookers.
Video tributes were also shared by Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados, who enjoyed a close relationship with the late Surinamese leader and singer Eddy Grant.
Ramotar urged leaders of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to take a leading role in the world “to demand that Israel be expelled from the United Nations (UN) in order for us to give real solidarity to the people of Palestine”.
He immediately justified his call, arguing it was not extreme, citing the suspension of South Africa from the UN for lesser atrocities under its racist apartheid regime.
While conveying condolences to Bouterse’s widow and family on behalf of the President and Vice President of Guyana Ramotar noticed that he felt compelled to attend the funeral “because of the close personal relations I have had with the late president Bouterse”.
“That close relationship goes way back even before he or Bouterse were president of their respective countries. “Indeed, it was one of the bright spots on my very difficult presidency that I had”, Ramotar said, calling Bouterse “one of the Caribbean’s great souls”. He further noticed that since Bouterse burst on the local political scene in 1980 he played a central role in the socio-economic and political life of Suriname, the Caribbean community and further afield internationally.
Bouterse according to the former Guyana president, was a nationalist who took independence seriously. “For him it meant more than just having a national anthem and a flag. For him he not just wanted a form of independence, but more importantly for him he wanted a substance of independence for the people of Suriname and the Caribbean”.
According to Ramotar, Bouterse labored to make his country less dependent on the old colonial Dutch, “something that we are all still striving for in our region”. “He was a strong regionalist, he was a great supporter of Caricom and for the greater unity in the region. Even though we have made some advances we still have a far way to go and we still have far more to do in that regard”, Ramotar said.
The Guyanese politician believed that “imperialist” states, targeted Bouterse because of his firm stand against global injustices, while these same nations support human rights atrocities in the Gaza, Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bsn, and in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
“It is those same morally bankrupt and decadent politicians that have persecuted Comrade Bouterse. Those are the same ones that persecuted and accused him of all types of things”, Ramotar told thousands of persons who attended the funeral in the former Dutch colony.
“I believe it was those traits that he was subjected to vicious attacks from the old colonial masters and imperialism generally. Anyone who still believes that the main imperial states have any morality left in them, I invite them to look at what is happening today in the Gaza and on the West Bank of the Jordan River,” he added.
Ramotar characterized the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands as “imperialist forces”, citing the Dutch court’s rejection of a non-governmental appeal to halt Dutch arms shipments to Israel. He further stated that the United States’ use of its veto has enabled continued violence and effectively neutralized the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
Eddy Grant, the Guyana-born international superstar, described himself as a “true friend” of Bouterse and expressed deep sorrow, saying he was “bereft” of many stories about the late Surinamese leader. In a video tribute, he stated that, “Like all true leaders, he led from the front, rather than directing others from behind a desk.”
Bouterse died on December 23 while a fugitive, having evaded a 20-year prison sentence imposed in December 2023 for the murders of 15 regime critics on December 8, 1982. He went into hiding to avoid reporting to prison on January 12 last year.
On December 24, unidentified individuals returned his body to his home in Leonsberg, Paramaribo.
An autopsy by the Public Prosecution Service determined that the former president died from complications of liver failure due to liver fibrosis resulting from chronic alcohol abuse.
Bouterse was privately cremated on Saturday evening.
