Foreign relations of Suriname

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Suriname
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Suriname

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Suriname claims an area in French Guiana between Litani River and Marouini River (both headwaters of the Lawa). Suriname also claims an area in Guyana between New (Upper Courantyne) and Courantyne/Koetari Rivers (all headwaters of the Courantyne)

There has also been international tension due to Suriname's status as a transshipment point for South American drugs destined mostly for Europe.

Since gaining independence, Suriname has become a member of the United Nations, the OAS, and the Non-Aligned Movement. Suriname is a member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market and the Association of Caribbean States; it is associated with the European Union through the Lome Convention. Suriname participates in the Amazonian Pact, a grouping of the countries of the Amazon Basin that focuses on protection of the Amazon region's natural resources from environmental degradation. Reflecting its status as a major bauxite producer, Suriname is also a member of the International Bauxite Association. The country also belongs to the Economic Commission for Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Suriname became a member of the Islamic Development Bank in 1998, under the Wijdenbosch government.

Bilateral agreements with several countries of the region, covering diverse areas of cooperation, have underscored the government's interest in strengthening regional ties. The return to Suriname from French Guiana of about 8,000 refugees of the 1986-91 civil war between the military and domestic insurgents has improved relations with French authorities. Longstanding border disputes with Guyana and French Guiana remain unresolved. Negotiations with the Government of Guyana brokered by the Jamaican Prime Minister in 2000 did not produce an agreement, but the countries agreed to restart talks after Guyanese national elections in 2001. In January 2002 the presidents of Suriname and Guyana met in Suriname and agreed to resume negotiations, establishing the Suriname-Guyana border commission to begin meeting in May 2002. An earlier dispute with Brazil ended amicably after formal demarcation of the border.

In May 1997, then-President Wijdenbosch joined U.S. President Clinton and 14 other Caribbean leaders during the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counter narcotics issues, finance and development, and trade.

On June 2, 2000 CGX Energy Inc, a Canadian oil exploration firm, was carrying out seismic survey procedures in Guyanese waters which Suriname states lie within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In reaction, Suriname sent military gunboats to the zone. As a result, the two nations nearly went to war over the offshore oil fields — which according to the US Geological Survey rank among the largest untapped oil and gas reserves in the world, estimated at up to 15 billion barrels of oil. Despite the intervention of the 15-nation Caribbean community (CARICOM), the two nations have failed to settle the dispute. Since the conflict erupted in 2000, Suriname not only forbade CGX to explore in the disputed area but also prohibited Guyanese fishermen to enter what Suriname states are its territorial waters. In the case before the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS), Guyana has also asked for provisional measures to explore and fish in these waters again.