Bouterse, Désiré (1945- )

Surinamese military leader and president 1980-87. He ruled dictatorially during his presidency, and set about suppressing all forms of democratic opposition.

Bouterse, a commander-in-chief of the armed forces, was responsible for the military coup that removed former president Henck Arron from power in 1980.

His influence and support from the military enabled him to ward off several coup attempts in 1980 and 1981. A guerrilla war in the mid-eighties caused severe economic difficulties for his administration and in 1987 his rule came to an end with democratic constitutional elections in which a civilian government was once again put back into power.