Contributing to the stability and security of the region through earnest cooperation with partner nations, military, and intergovernmental organizations ranks high among the many objectives of Brigadier General Werner Guiseppe Kioe A Sen, commander of the Suriname Armed Forces (SAF). Since assuming the command of the SAF in late 2022, Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen has focused on strengthening interoperability and dialogue among the forces and regional partners to better combat transnational crime. Diálogo had the opportunity to speak with Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen about security challenges and regional cooperation, among other topics.
Diálogo: What are the latest advances in the fight against organized crime in Suriname?
Brigadier General Werner Guiseppe Kioe A Sen, commander of the Suriname Armed Forces: We are making some advances. At the political level, we are having more engagements. We briefed the President about all the security issues and the bureaucracy we manage because, when operations need to be implemented, we sometimes face financial constraints. These briefings to the President are valuable for him to take away all these barriers — that’s on the political level.
On the strategic and operational levels, we have also increased dialogues between all the security forces and within that context, we have more operations at the interagency level. An example of that is the recently implemented maritime domain operation called Sparimaka, which means Stingray, and that’s where we wanted to merge all the security forces in the maritime domain. It was a pilot operation for about two months, and within that operation we inspected more than 120 vessels; we came across about 34 illegal immigrants, a majority coming from Guyana and Brazil. We also inspected a vessel where we were confronted with contraband. It was a successful concept that we will continue; that’s one of the advances of merging all the security forces.
In the same context, we also have more engagements to tackle illegal airstrips. We started to do an operation at the agency level to destroy airstrips. We started again in 2022, after a long hiatus, and from then on until now, we destroyed about 16 airstrips. We know it’s just a portion of it, but we tackled it, that’s one of the advances we made through engagements at the political, strategic, and operational levels, and we increased all interagency operations.
Diálogo: What is new regarding cooperation efforts with neighboring countries, French Guiana, Brazil, and Guyana to counter narcotrafficking and transnational criminal organizations?
Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen: We have an instrument called the Guiana Shield Strategic Dialogue. It is a very valuable instrument for us because on that platform we share knowledge, we share challenges, and we also identify the capabilities that are eventually shared with one another. One of the takeaways from the recent Dialogue carried out in February 2024 is that we will synchronize all maritime operations. I recently spoke with the general, the commander of the French forces in French Guiana and we planned to have a follow up discussion about it, on how to coordinate the synchronization of all maritime domains and maritime operations. We have seen that if one state controls or increases control, border transnational criminal activities flow to the border area of another Guiana Shield partner. Therefore, we came with the plan to synchronize all these maritime operations. That’s one of the key takeaways from the Strategic Dialogue.
Diálogo: What kind of engagements, exchanges, training has the SAF focused on so far this year with U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)? How do these benefit the SAF?
Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen: We have regular engagements with SOUTHCOM. At the moment, we are focusing on capacity building. We have 10 military members that are attending training activities or courses in the United States. We also have regular engagements, for example, within CARICOM, where we have trainings, subject matter exchange, expert exchanges, and also regular visits from authorities from the United States, and we also send military to the United States. There is good cooperation with the United States.
Another thing we focus on with SOUTHCOM is information sharing about transnational criminal activities. Last year [2023], we received some information about the increase of illegal flights coming to Suriname, unfortunately, increasing by 100 percent. Internally, we looked at this threat and increased our engagement on a political and strategic levels to respond to this transborder crime. That is part of our engagement with the United States.
We do a lot with the United States, not only with SOUTHCOM, but also as part of the State Partnership Program where we partner with South Dakota. There we have a huge engagement rate. I think between 20 and 25 engagements on a yearly basis. That’s a lot. We also have, for example, subject matter expert exchanges and humanitarian operations. This cooperation is very valuable for us.
Diálogo: Cybersecurity plays a crucial role in modern defense, but it is an intrinsically dynamic process, in which defenders and attackers perpetually develop responses to each other’s moves. In May, the computer network of the Surinamese government suffered a cyberattack. What kind of cooperation and exchange of best practices with partner nations and with the United States is the SAF carrying out to strengthen its cyber capabilities and contribute to national efforts to counter cyber threats?
Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen: Indeed. Cyber security is the main responsibility of our National Security Directorate that is part of the Cabinet of the President, and they are the agency responsible for cybersecurity. Concerning the incident in May this year, when they discovered it, they shut down all the government [online] sites, but they were successful in bringing all these sites online again and have since then changed the interface to have more control. That’s in regard to national security. But if you look at the Ministry of Defense, we do not have the capability yet to assist the national security director. What we implemented two years ago was a cybersecurity cell within the Ministry of Defense, but at the moment it is more on the level of measures or instructions for defense personnel, how to manage security, cyber, social media, etc. That’s the phase where we are right now. We don’t have the capability yet to tackle or to help mitigate or counterattack cyberattacks. We’re not at that level yet.
Diálogo: This year you participated as an observer in the Conference of American Armies (CAA) carried out in mid-February in Mexico City. What were some of the most important takeaways of this multilateral forum for the SAF?
Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen: We gladly participated during the CAA, after 12 years of absence. We participated as observer again. For us, it is a vehicle to be present in the region and in international forums. It’s important to be present because at these forums you get to know the recent updates, recent information, and share best practices. Also, you get to broaden your network. For us, it’s important to be part of these multilateral platforms such as the CAA. Within this context, we gladly participated during activities. They recently had a first communication exercise with all the participating countries and Suriname was part of that. After so long, the international interaction was motivating for our troops. That’s one of the many good things that we got from the CAA. Most important is that you need to be present at these platforms. They need to hear your view about certain issues and it’s better to give inputs to co-manage and co-influence the region than to walk behind the facts. It’s very important for us to take part in the CAA.
Diálogo: What have been some of the advances in the fight against illegal gold mining? What kind of cooperation do you have with neighboring Brazil and other partner nations to combat this scourge that destroys and pollutes the environment?
Brig. Gen. Kioe A Sen: To be frank we are making slow progress. It is not what we expect, but that is because we have institutions that work alongside each other. We need to merge our forces, we need to merge all the capabilities, but we are not there yet. Concerning the responsibility of the Defense Force, if you look at our constitution, we have two main tasks: One is to defend the state, the nation of Suriname against any military aggression, foreign military aggression, and the second task is to support civilian authorities. And one of these civilian authorities are the police forces, and we also give support to the public justice department. As long as they request support, we need to help them. In this regard, we have seen that the Public Office is increasing its enforcement on environmental crime, and that’s the way we support illegal gold mining.
