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Caribbean & Central America - August 2025
SURINAME: Huge responsibility for new government
The 25 May general election in Suriname was one of the most consequential ever, with oil-fuelled GDP growth set to accelerate to as much as 50% in 2028, two years ahead of the next election, as oil production from the Block 58 project comes online. The electorate handed a narrow victory – and with it responsibility for managing this newfound wealth – to the left-wing populist Nationale Democratische Partij (NDP), led by Jennifer Geerlings-Simons following the death in December 2024 of controversial longtime NDP leader Desi Bouterse, who ruled Suriname twice, first as a military dictator (1980-1987) and then as elected president (2010-2020). Geerlings-Simons’ predecessor, Chandrikapersad Santokhi (2020-2025), leader of the centrist Vooruitstrevende Hervormings Partij (VHP), failed to convince the electorate that he should be rewarded for his successful implementation of the 2021 deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is the NDP and its allies that will now reap the rewards of the IMF-imposed fiscal discipline along with the oil wealth that is about to flow.
- Introduction
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- NICARAGUA: Killing of dissident exile causes commotion
- COSTA RICA: Former security minister charged with drug offences in US
- EL SALVADOR: IMF releases funds after successful review
- PANAMA: Government hails removal from EU blacklist
- REGION: First European Union-Central America Association Council takes place
- SURINAME: Huge responsibility for new government
- REGION: In search of energy independence
- REGION: The cost of sargassum
- CUBA: New sanctions as economy deteriorates
- JAMAICA: Green economy could create jobs
- Economic Highlights