Suriname Guerrilla War

Surinamese Interior War
Date 1986 – 1992 (6 years) Location East-Suriname Result Jungle Commando surrenders after restoration of democracy
Belligerents
National Army	Jungle Commando
Commanders and leaders
Dési Bouterse	Ronnie Brunswijk
Casualties and losses
87 soldiers	60 jungle commandos
at least 300 civilians

The Surinamese Interior War (Dutch: Binnenlandse Oorlog) was a civil war waged in the remote interior region of Suriname between 1986 and 1992. The war was fought between the Jungle Commando led by Ronnie Brunswijk, whose members originated from the Maroon ethnic group, and the national army led by then-army chief and de facto head of state Dési Bouterse.

Suriname has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in South America, with groups of ethnic East Indian, Indonesian, Chinese, European, Amerindian and African (Creole and Maroon) origin. The Maroons' ancestors were African slaves who escaped from coastal Suriname between the mid-seventeenth and late eighteenth centuries to form independent settlements in the interior. They settled in interior parts of Suriname, and gained independence by signing a peace treaty with the Dutch in the 1760s. The Dutch were unable to conquer them and agreed to allow them autonomy within their territory.

In 1975 Suriname gained full independence from the Netherlands. Dési Bouterse participated in building a national army. Five years later, in 1980, he and fifteen other army sergeants led a bloodless coup against the country's government. Bouterse eventually consolidated all power. In 1987 he directed the National Assembly to adopt a new constitution that allowed him to continue as head of the army, as a civilian government was established under close watch.

The war began as a personal feud between Bouterse and Brunswijk, a Maroon who had served as Bouterse's former bodyguard. It later assumed political dimensions. Brunswijk demanded democratic reforms, civil rights and economic development for the country's Maroon minority.

In November 1986, military forces attacked Moiwana, home village of Brunswijk. They massacred 39 people, mostly women and children. They destroyed most of the village, burning down Brunswijk's house and others. More than 100 survivors fled across the border to French Guiana.

...
Wikipedia