US Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Public Affairs, Philip J. Crowley noted that while the Barack Obama administration supports the results of free and fair elections and processes, Washington expected that the Bouterse administration would not tolerate corruption or violate democracy in the former Dutch colony.
"We look to maintain our good ties with Suriname and the people of Suriname, but we will be clear with the incoming Suriname government that, for good relations with the United States and the international community, we expect this new government to stand firm against corruption and respect democratic principles, human rights, and the rule of law," said Crowley.
Bouterse is a former military coup-leader and he has been convicted of drugs-trafficking in the Hague whose government has repeatedly said that he would not be welcomed there. He is also on trial in Suriname for the 1982 killings of 15 politicians, journalists and other critics of his military regime. He in 2007 publicly apologized for that sordid chapter, saying that he accepted political responsibility, but not any direct involvement
It was the Jules Wijdenbosch-led administration that in June 2000 had ordered Surinamese gun-boats to chase the CGX Energy-contracted exploration rig out of an offshore concession granted by Guyana. Against the background of Wijdenbosch being now part of Bouterse's Mega-Combination, the former Guyanese foreign minister urged Guyana to talk with the new administration and at the same time be prepared.
"We should hope for the best but prepare for the worst... I will hope that the new government will see sense that adventurism is not in its interest; certainly military adventurism is not in its interest and that it will take steps to settle any difficulties or differences we have by peaceful means rather than by military means," Jackson told Demerara Waves.
Guyana in February of this year had urged the outgoing administration of President Ronald Venetiaan to publicly abandon the use of force in settling a land-border dispute over the 6,000 square mile New River Triangle that is under Guyanese control. That move by Foreign Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in the National Assembly had followed a public admission by Wijdenbosch that he had instructed the military to invade and seize the Triangle that has been in Guyanese possession since 1936 when Brazil, Britain and the Netherlands had settled the boundary.
Jackson pointed out that it would be important for Guyana to enjoy "good relations" with its eastern neighbour because Guyanese live in Suriname generally and both peoples traverse Corentyne in Guyana and Nickerie in Suriname across the river and the dispute over the Triangle remains unsettled.
In welcoming the overtures by President Jagdeo in a congratulatory message to Bouterse on Monday, Jackson recalled that the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea that settled the maritime boundary dispute with a ruling in 2007 had frowned on Suriname's use of force by evicting the CGX-contracted rig.
"I would hope that he (Bouterse) would see the wisdom of containing elements within his supporters who may be calling for a repeat of the action taken by the Wijdenbosch administration," said Jackson who served as foreign minister from 1978 to 1990.
He hopes that President Bouterse would see it in Suriname's best interest to develop close relations with Guyana and "settle all outstanding problems." "A new situation has developed, a new opportunity has arisen for settling differences between Guyana and Suriname," he said.
The Associated Press reported that Bouterse was elected Monday in a parliamentary vote that came after months of jostling among the South American nation's many political factions. His coalition, which won a majority of the popular vote due to widespread dissatisfaction with the economy, won 23 seats in May elections but needed at least 36 to name a president.
His election campaign was peppered with street-slang that is popular with youths who he promised to help provide jobs.
Suriname in 2009 purchased three passenger /military combat helicopters for $15.3 million.
Even as the United States (US) on Tuesday called on the Desi Bouterse-led administration in Suriname to keep a tight lid on corruption and eschew dictatorship, Former Foreign Minister of Guyana, Rashleigh Jackson urged Guyana to be prepared for any military "adventurism".
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