Cuba–Suriname relations

Cuba–Suriname relations

Cuba	Suriname

Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Suriname were established on 23 March 1979.^[1] Suriname has had an embassy in Havana since 2003.^[2] Cuba has had an embassy in Paramaribo since 1981.^[3]

After the 1980 Surinamese coup d'état, Fidel Castro was the first head of state to offer his congratulations to Desi Bouterse.^[4] Cuba established an embassy in Paramaribo in 1981, which developed into the largest diplomatic mission in Suriname.^[3][5] The murder of Maurice Bishop in 1983, and subsequent invasion of Grenada, was followed by the downgrading of the Cuban embassy to a diplomatic post with a chargé d'affaires^[5] and the expulsion of 105 Cuban diplomats and advisors. The National Military Council denied a correlation between the expulsion and the events in Grenada.^[6]

In 1998, President Wijdenbosch made a state visit to Cuba and promised to renew diplomatic relations.^[7] In 2006, the Cuban embassy was re-established.^[8] In 2011, there was a state visit by President Bouterse to Cuba to discuss trade.^[9]

Cuba has sent many medical doctors to Suriname.^[10] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 doctors were dispatched to Suriname.^[11] Cuba also provided scholarships and medical education; however, the program was cancelled in August 2020.^[12] In the 2020s, Cuban refugees increasingly used Suriname as a transit country to the United States.^[13] In January 2021, a group of 500 Cubans stranded in South Drain, where they were denied access to Guyana, from which they had hoped to catch a flight to the United States.^[14]

Trade between Suriname and Cuba is negligible. In 2019, Suriname exported US$242,000 worth of goods to Cuba with the main product being wood. Cuba exported US$318,000 worth of goods with the main product being detonating fuses.^[15]

• Foreign relations of Cuba
• Foreign relations of Suriname