Who is Jennifer Simons, the first president of Surinam, one of the poorest countries in South America and recently discovered great oil reserves

- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World
6 julio 2025

The Surinam Parliament supported the first president in the country's history, Jennifer Simons, 71, who assumes an important challenge: managing her newly discovered huge oil reserves, which could turn a turn to one of the poorest nations in the region.

Surinam, the smallest country in South America both by population and territory, also celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence from the Netherlands.

Jennifer “Jenny” Simons, who leads a coalition of opposition parties, has managed to access the presidency of Surinam thanks to the current president, Chandrikpersad “Chan” Santokhi, decided not to present himself to re -election by not having his party with the required support of two thirds of the House of Representatives.

“I come to this position to serve, and I will use all my knowledge, my strength and my insight to make our wealth available to all our people,” said Simons in a brief speech pronounced after the deputies approved their appointment between applause.

The president of the Chamber, Ashwin Adhin, described the election of the first president as “a historical moment of national importance.”

“I am very aware of the responsibility that now falls on our shoulders, an increased responsibility for me for being the first woman who occupies this position,” Simons added. “I don't need many words. My thanks and we will get to work.”

The new leader of the country is a training doctor, although she entered the policy in 1996 as deputy of the Circumscription of the Capital, Paramaribo.

He was previously president of the Parliament of Surinam and since 2024 he leads the National Democratic Party (PND), which was founded by the coup and subsequently elected president I will desire “Dési” Bouternarse, who died being a fugitive from justice.

In the elections on May 25, the PND managed to get 18 of the 51 seats of the Southinamese Parliament, more than the Santokhi centrist party, and reached the agreement of five other minor formations of the Chamber to collect the support of 34 deputies.

The curse of oil

Simons's investiture is scheduled for July 16, when the five -year mandate of Shantokhi ends.

The new president will have to face important challenges.

Jennifer Simons on election day. — Photo foot, Jennifer Simons awaits important challenges at the head of the presidency of Surinam.

About 20% of the 600,000 inhabitants of Surinam are below the poverty threshold.

Its population is very diverse, and is mainly composed of descendants of indigenous, Indonesian, Chinese, Dutch and African groups.

About 90% of the surface of this Caribbean country is covered by tropical forests, and its economy has been supported for decades in mining – it has, among other things, gold – and agriculture.

In recent years, he has looked at China more and more as a political and commercial partner and, in 2019 it became one of the first countries of South America to join the infrastructure initiative of the Strip and the China route, also known as the new Silk route.

Inflation, which exceeds 60%, and agreements with international financial organizations to restructure the country's debt caused in 2023 important protests against austerity measures imposed by the Santokhi government.

But the discovery in 2020 of important oil deposits in territorial waters Southinames has changed the country's expectations and has attracted new investment.

Petroleras such as the French TotalEnergies or Petronas already operate in the deposits, and it is expected that in 2028 the exploitation of a marine block with an estimated production of 220,000 barrels per day will begin, much more than the current 5,000 to 6,000.

The predecessor of Simons, Santokhi, had come to promise that the benefits of oil wealth would be distributed among the South ones, and that each citizen would receive US $ 750 in a saving account with an annual interest rate of 7%.

In AFP statements, Santokhi said that Surinam was “aware of the curse of oil”, also known as “Dutch disease”, which had affected other countries rich in resources, such as Venezuela, Angola and Algeria, unable to convert oil wealth into economic success.

Norway is an exception to this “curse” thanks to the establishment of a sovereign fund.

A refinery in Surinam. — Photo foot, It is estimated that the new oil deposits of Surinam will be able to produce about 220,000 barrels per day.

How the wealth that seems to be coming, and that experts calculate in about US $ 10,000 million in the next 10 or 20 years will be administered, will be one of Jennifer Simons's paragraphs.

But the new president, whose mandate will be extended until 2030, has not clarified what her government will make with the new oil income, and the fragile coalition that supports her could lead to disagreements on how to manage it.

Turbulent story

Surinam has a turbulent history of rebellions and coups from its independence of the Dutch crown in 1975.

One of them was known as the “Titus of the Sergeants” in 1980, in which Bouternos became de facto leader of the country until 1987, time in which he was accused of being involved in the murder of 15 opponents, including lawyers, journalists, businessmen and prisoners. Years later, in 2010, he returned to the presidency, this time by the polls, until he was defeated in 2020.

Jennifer Simons maintained a close collaboration with Bousting during his elected presidency, something that his critics now spend.

During this time, she was president of the Parliament and was key to approve an amnesty law that directly benefited Bourtes.

The former president, qualified widely as a dictator by many Surinameses, was finally sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2024 for the murder of political opponents, but Boucerse fled and died in hiding at the end of that year.

With Boute