PARAMARIBO, Suriname – SURINAME’S new president, Desi Bouterse, reassumed power yesterday after being sidelined for a week by an illness that he now confirms was a bout of dengue fever. Bouterse said he also was exhausted from the gruelling political campaign that led to his election by parliamentary vote in July.
Dengue, a sometimes fatal, mosquito-borne disease, reached epidemic levels in the Caribbean this year, sickening thousands of people across the region. Bouterse, who ceded power to his vice president for a week, said he is healthy enough to return to power.
“My doctors say I’m better than ever,” the 64-year-old said at a news conference, his first since becoming president.
The president said his illness would have no effect on plans to make his first overseas trip as president to Guyana, where he is expected to discuss a proposal to build the first bridge between the neighbouring countries, as well as trade and joint crime-fighting strategies.
Bouterse twice led military coups in the South American nation and has been charged along with a number of associates with the murder of political opponents in 1982. The trial is pending.