Suriname's President Desi Bouterse, left, attends a meeting with China's Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 27, 2019. FLORENCE LO/AFP/Getty Images ...

Desi Bouterse, a military strongman who led a 1980 coup in the former Dutch colony of Suriname and then returned to power by election three decades later despite charges of drug smuggling and ...

Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring, wife of Suriname's former President Desi Bouterse is surrounded by supporters as she speaks to the press outside her home in Paramaribo, Suriname, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.

The 69-year-old Bouterse -- who has ruled Suriname on and off since 1980 -- did not even need a formal vote by lawmakers. There was no opposition, and he was re-elected by acclamation.

Suriname’s former dictator Desi Bouterse has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murders of 15 opponents of the then-military regime in December 1982, ending a historic, 16-year legal ...

PARAMARIBO, Suriname - Few leaders have the sort of shadows that hang over Suriname’s President Dési Bouterse, a former coup leader and strongman, convicted of murder and drug smuggling, who is ...

Bouterse first came to power as a young army sergeant major after a coup in 1980, five years after Suriname gained independence following three centuries of Dutch occupation and rule.

Desi Bouterse, a military strongman who led a 1980 coup in the former Dutch colony of Suriname then returned to power by election three decades later despite charges of drug smuggling and murder ...

FILE - Suriname's President Desi Bouterse, re-elected to a second, five-year term, attends his swearing-in ceremony in Paramaribo, Suriname, Aug. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Ertugrul Kilic, File ...