Suriname is a relatively prosperous country in northern South America with a fairly well-developed mining and manufacturing sector. With a remote and nearly impenetrable jungle interior, Suriname reflects Caribbean culture more than South American, and the fact that the Surinamese speak Dutch rather than Spanish or Portuguese only enhances its cultural isolation. Its fine beaches and natural wonders make Suriname an excellent candidate for tourism, but poor infrastructure has so far retarded development of that industry. The US has traded heavily with Suriname due to the surplus of Suriname’s bauxite mining and processing industry.
Lay of the Land:
The history of Suriname dates from 3000 BCE, when Native Americans first inhabited the area. The largest tribes were the Arawaks, a nomadic coastal tribe that lived from hunting and fishing, and the Caribs, who followed the Arawaks and conquered them. Beginning in the 16th century, the area was explored by French, Spanish and English explorers. A century later, the Dutch and English established plantation colonies along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains. Disputes between the Dutch and the English were resolved in 1667, when the Dutch kept Suriname while the English retained New Amsterdam, a small trading post in North America now known as New York City. The Dutch planters relied heavily on African slaves to cultivate the coffee, cocoa, sugar cane and cotton plantations along the rivers. Many slaves escaped the plantations and, with the help of native South Americans, established Maroon villages, creating tribes that survive to this day. After several unsuccessful campaigns against the Maroons, the Dutch authorities signed several peace treaties with them in the 19th century, granting the Maroons sovereign status and trade rights.
The US and Suriname had normal relations from the latter’s independence in 1975 until the aftermath of the December 1982 massacre, when the US canceled foreign aid and relations cooled substantially. Relations were re-normalized in 1991 as Suriname began to re-institute democratic governance, and have become closer and more cooperative since that time.
The economy of Suriname is dominated by bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made, which accounts for more than 15% of its GDP and 70% of export earnings. Suriname’s 2008 GDP was $2.88 billion and its GNP was $3.67 billion. Its imports consisted of 24.8% machinery and transport equipment, 15.6% mineral fuels, lubricants, and related goods, and 24.8% of other commodities. Suriname’s major exports for 2008 consisted of mainly metal ores and scraps and other crude materials. The US-based multinational Alcoa, through its subsidiary Suralco, owns most of the bauxite industry in Suriname, giving that company a major stake in Suriname’s stability. Other main exports include rice, bananas and shrimp. Suriname has recently started exploiting some of its sizeable oil and gold reserves. Theseoffshore oil reserves had previously remain untapped pending a dispute with neighboring Guyana over the maritime border between the two countries, which was resolved only in 2007.
The US used Suriname to test new army vehicles in 2008 in an abandoned bauxite mining area in Moengo, which is in eastern Suriname. These tests lasted 100 days, and some members of the Surinamese parliament about the effect of these military operations on the local people and land. The Head of the Planning and Development Department at the Defense Ministry ensured people that the tests would be fully monitored and would not hurt the environment or the Surinamese in any way. Stryker Light Armored Vehicles, which are combat vehicles used by the military, were tested. The Strykers are used in urban areas where their lightness is favorable.
The government of Suriname is a constitutional democracy with a president and unicameral legislature and constitutional democracy. In 2005, the United People’s Assembly reelected Ronald Venetiaan president. Although overall human rights fared well in Suriname, there have been some violations. These include guards mistreating detained prisoners, prison overcrowding, self-censorship of the media, which has been used to doing this because of Suriname’s history with intimidation by military leaders. Furthermore, the government has been accused of corruption, discrimination against women, minorities, and natives. There has also been increased use of child labor in undocumented sectors of society. With such a diverse population, however, the Surimamese do enjoy freedom of religion.
Lisa Bobbie Schreiber Hughes served as US Ambassador to Suriname from September 28, 2006, until October 16, 2009, having previously served in Suriname as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2000 until 2002. Hughes was born in 1958. She earned her B.A. from Rutgers University in New Jersey and her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law, conducted research in International Commercial Arbitration for the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia University in New York City, and in 1997 earned her M.S. in National Security Strategy at the National War College. Schreiber Hughes joined the diplomatic service in 1985. Quito, Ecuador, was her first overseas assignment, and she has also served in Havana. Washington assignments at the State Department have included Director, Office of Andean Affairs (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela); Economic Officer (Cuba), and Chief, Agricultural Development Division (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Program). Outside of the State Department, she has served on the President’s staff at the White House, as Director for Consular Affairs and International Programs on the Homeland Security Council. Schreiber Hughes is a member of the bars of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the District of Colombia. She speaks Spanish, understands some French, and is working to improve her Dutch. Though she has refrained from making political contributions herself, her husband, Eric Peter Salonen, donated more than $29,000 to various Democratic candidates and causes between 2000 and 2008.
Jacques Ruben Constantijn Kross became ambassador of Suriname to the United States on February 22, 2007. Among his academic credentials, he holds a Master of Laws degree from Suriname’s Anton de Kom University. He has served as a member of the National Election Bureau and Chairman of the Surinamese team of the Joint Surinamese-Dutch Anti-Narcotics Steering Committee. In 2003, he chaired the Surinamese team during negotiations between his country and Brazil on a range of issues, including treaties for extradition and mutual assistance in criminal matters. More recently, he served as Suriname’s Minister of Labor, followed by stints as Minister of Social Affairs and Public Housing, and more recently as Director of the Ministry of Justice and Police. In addition to being the ambassador to the US, Kross serves as Suriname's Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).
On April 11, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Jay Nicholas Anania to be the next Ambassador to Suriname, which is the smallest independent nation in South America and the only independent Dutch-speaking nation in the Western Hemisphere. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, Anania is expected to be confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Born circa 1960 in Silver Spring, Maryland, Anania earned a B.A. in History at Kenyon College in 1981 and an M.B.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined the Foreign Service in 1985, serving early foreign postings at the consulate general in Tijuana, Mexico; at the Interests Section in Havana, Cuba; and at the embassies in Amman, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong, China, where he served as management officer from 1999 to 2002.
In Washington at the State Department, Anania served as director of the Office of Management Policy from 2002 to 2005 and acting chief information officer in the Bureau of Information Resource Management from 2005 to January 2006. In 2003, he established and led the department’s Office of Rightsizing the U.S. Government Overseas Presence. From 2006 to 2009, Anania was minister-counselor for Management Affairs at the embassy in Berlin, Germany, where he also served for seven months as acting deputy chief of mission. From 2009 to 2011, he served as executive director of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Since 2011, he has served as management counselor at the embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Anania and his wife, Lourdes, have a college-age son named Nicholas.
Jay Anania (by Kellie Lunney, Government Executive)more