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38-616: The Jungle Commando fought a guerrilla war against the Surinamese government of Dési Bouterse in the 1980s, before a truce was negotiated in March 1991. At one time the Jungle Commando controlled a large area in East Suriname. In 2005, Brunswijk warned that the Jungle Commando could resume fighting if the 1992 Kourou peace accord's conditions were not met. In the late 1970s and early 1980s,

76-769: A citywide blackout to occur in Paramaribo because of the Afobaka dam losing power. The next month, in February, the Moengo powerhouse would be destroyed, as well as a palm oil plantation in Patamacca . This caused the village of Pokigron to request military support to help ward off the Jungle Commandos as the area was now in economic disarray. In May 1987, the Jungle Commandos continued to attack Moengo and Albina until military forces secured

114-407: A member of Desi Bouterse's party, in the Surinamese parliament after Doekhi assaulted Brunswijk and Somohardjo, then chair of the Surinamese parliament. The event was broadcast on live television. Brunswijk was owner of Robruns NV, a gold mining company. According to a Parbode  [ nl ] , Brunswijk owned six gold concessions in 2012. In July 2020, Brunswijk transferred ownership of

152-538: A peace treaty was signed in 1992. Brunswijk remained active in politics, serving as chair of the General Liberation and Development Party ( Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij , ABOP), and as a representative in the National Assembly. In addition he is the owner of Marowijne football club Inter Moengotapoe , which he has also appeared for as a player. On 29 June 2020, Brunswijk became Chairperson of

190-563: A result. Brunswijk's nephew, Clyde Brunswijk, is a professional kickboxer . Steven Brunswijk  [ nl ] , a Dutch comedian and television personality, is a cousin. Brownsweg Brownsweg is a town and resort in Suriname in the Brokopondo District . Its population at the 2012 census was 4,793. The town was named after the road that leads to the Brownsberg , and

228-558: A state visit to Nickerie a gunshot was fired. Brunswijk immediately rushed forward to protect the President. Later it was discovered that a soldier in the honorary guard had fired his weapon by accident. In 1984, Brunswijk asked for a raise, but was discharged instead on 16 April, and refused back pay by Major Paul Bhagwandas . The Surinamese Interior War started in Stolkertsijver on 22 July 1986 at around 03:00. 12 soldiers guarding

266-471: Is a Surinamese politician, businessman, former rebel leader, footballer and convicted drug trafficker, who is serving as the current Vice President of Suriname . Brunswijk served as the personal bodyguard of military dictator Dési Bouterse in the early 1980s, but was discharged after asking for a raise, and denied back pay. In 1985, he formed the Surinamese Liberation Army, better known as

304-615: Is also a player and owner of Marowijne football club Inter Moengotapoe . In 2002, Brunswijk built a football stadium in Moengo , which he named the Ronnie Brunswijkstadion . The disciplinary committee of the Surinamese Football Association suspended him for five years because he threatened some players with a handgun during a match in 2005. The suspension was retracted due to lack of evidence. In June 2012, Brunswijk

342-665: The Brownsberg Nature Park . It is situated near the Brokopondo Reservoir . In 1958 Brownsweg was built for the inhabitants of the area that was flooded after the construction of the Afobaka Dam . One of the main concerns was the transmigration of the 5,000 people living in the area. Bronsweg was a stop at the former Lawa Railway , and in 1959 the Prinses Marijke camp was built near the hamlet. The resort consists of

380-668: The Jungle Commando . Brunswijk sought to gain recognition and rights for the Maroon minority of the interior, descendants of runaway African slaves who had established independent communities in the 17th and 18th centuries. From 1986, his forces fought against the national military under Bouterse in the Surinamese Interior War , a civil war that resulting in hundreds of deaths and more than 10,000 refugees in French Guiana , until

418-489: The Marowijne , Lawa , and Tapanahoni rivers. This control over the local waterways eventually resulted in many hijackings. The first of which took place that September when the jungle commando ceased control over an engined Cessna at Apetina . Nearing the end of November 1986, the Jungle Commando would be responsible for the destruction of two bridges on the east–west highway into Moengo, leading to their inevitable takeover of

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456-543: The National Assembly of Suriname . On 13 July, Brunswijk was elected vice-president by acclamation in an uncontested election . He was inaugurated on 16 July. Ronnie Brunswijk joined the Suriname National Army at the age of 18. He was considered a good soldier, and was sent to Cuba for commando training. After finishing his training, he was appointed as a personal bodyguard of Desi Bouterse . During

494-523: The Netherlands , and Dutch Colonel Bas van Tussenbroek was moved to French Guiana to transfer funds, and serve as military advisor. On 29 November 1986, the Surinamese army took revenge by attacking Brunswijk's birth village of Moiwana , where they murdered at least 39 villagers, mostly women and children. They burned down Brunswijk's house and destroyed the village. More than 100 refugees fled across

532-516: The French government endorsed the agreement, the Surinamese Army rejected the idea of peace and continued to pursue members of the commando. On March 24, 1990, the presidential palace would serve as the nesting grounds of the people's government, about which talks resurfaced. These talks were helmed by the sitting president at the time, and they were attended by refugee leaders from France and members of

570-419: The Jungle Commando as it was formed by high-ranking officials who had previously fled the military, most notably Ronnie Brunswijk . Brunswijk was previously involved in a military coup in which the previous government was overthrown in 1980. He and a small group of deserters attacked 12 soldiers at a military outpost in Stolkertsijver on July 22, 1986. While holding this group of soldiers hostage, another attack

608-473: The Jungle Commandos' prevalence in the area began to rise in retaliation. The village of Pokigron was completely burned to the ground by members of the Jungle Commando. Several businesses and homes were also targeted in the town of Brownsweg several days later. On August 31, the Jungle Commando would hijack a ferry containing over forty vehicles 54 miles west of Paramaribo on the Coppename River . The ferry

646-474: The National Assembly who was installed on 14 July. Brunswijk was the shortest serving chairman in the history of Suriname. On 1 July 2020, Brunswijk tested COVID-19 positive. He had been tested, because Paul Somohardjo with whom he had lengthy meetings about the new government tested positive. He was released from hospital on 6 July. To show his appreciation for the hospital staff, he donated three cars to nurses who did not have transportation. On 7 July,

684-471: The Surinamese Army, with responsibility for patrolling their traditional interior territory. The government also promised jobs for Maroons in gold prospecting and forestry, as they were isolated from many developing industries. On 8 August 1992, a final peace treaty was signed. The Netherlands prosecuted both Brunswijk and Bouterse in absentia for drug trafficking, and both men were convicted. Brunswijk

722-481: The Surinamese people began witnessing a dramatic fall in respect for traditional leaders and their practices, under the current government and place. In response to this was the emergence of the Suriname National Liberation Army, a militant resistance group that struggled in an attempt to disband the current military leadership of the country and constitute a democracy. Locals referred to the group as

760-452: The agreement. It was intended that the ex-fighters would be incorporated into the police force, but the Amerindian people fought against this proposition, saying that their people would be subjected to the will of the Jungle Commando and at their mercy. This would also call into question the status of the kin-ordered society. While the government, the National Assembly overseeing the matter, and

798-616: The area. Over the next two years, the military presence would dwindle again and the Jungle Commando would return to take over Moengo for a second time in October 1989, this time with the help of a splinter group headed by Kofi Ajomopong. In September 1987, a referendum was held in which the government approved a new draft of the Constitution, paving the way for democracy in the Republic of Suriname . On November 25, elections were held in which forty of

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836-484: The area. Soon after, on December 1, the Surinamese government would issue a state of emergency for the area, and on the following day, the Jungle Commando would be driven out of Moengo. In late December, the Jungle Commando would kidnap the son of Granman Belfon Aboikoni to signal that they were still in the area and had only moved up river toward central Suriname. In January 1987, the Jungle Commando bombed multiple power lines, causing an aluminum refinery to shut down and

874-454: The border to French Guiana , which became a destination for other refugees as the war wore on. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered the government to pay millions of US dollars in compensation to the 130 survivors of the village attack. The government and Brunswijk negotiated a ceasefire on 21 July 1989 in Kourou that included conversion of the Jungle Commando to a regular part of

912-488: The checkpoint were captured by the Jungle Commando headed by Brunswijk. In 1986, Brunswijk was sentenced in absentia for a bank robbery in Moengo on 26 April. Said bank robbery, a non-violent offence, earned Ronnie Brunswijk the title "Robin Hood of Suriname" due to his liberation of stolen funds from government held institutions that were returned to the people. During the war, the Jungle Commando received arms and funding from

950-602: The coalition nominated Chan Santokhi as President of Suriname and Ronnie Brunswijk as Vice-president . No other candidates were nominated, and therefore Brunswijk was elected as vice president on 13 July by acclamation in an uncontested election . Brunswijk was inaugurated as vice president on 16 July on the Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Paramaribo in ceremony without public due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Brunswijk

988-496: The democratic order that had previously been unstated. One year later, in 1992, the newly elected president, Venetian, would introduce the Peace Commission, beginning the process that would ultimately cause the conflict between the jungle commando and its splinter groups and the Surinamese government to end. Ronnie Brunswijk Ronnie Brunswijk ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔni ˈbrʏnsʋɛik] ; born 7 March 1961)

1026-406: The fifty-one seats were filled by members of the traditional party. This would lead to little change as the government continued to undermine its citizens and commit human rights violations one after the other. In their continual pursuit of the head of the Jungle Commando, the military continued capturing locals they claimed were rebels and executing them. These killings would continue until 1989, when

1064-514: The gold concessions to a foundation in order to qualify for the Vice Presidency. Brunswijk was elected to the National Assembly in the 2020 elections . He was elected as Chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname on 29 June 2020, in an uncontested election. Dew Sharman was elected as Vice Chairman. Brunswijk subsequently ran for vice president, and on 8 July, Brunswijk announced that he will be succeeded by Marinus Bee as Chairman of

1102-474: The jungle commando. This attempt at peace quickly fell through as tensions in the government rose as the government was made aware of potential drug trafficking the militant group was involved with. Several days prior, an airplane containing over 100 kilos of cocaine was discovered in the Moengo area. After a military coup occurred again in 1991, the permanent council of the OAS issued an appeal in an attempt to reestablish

1140-566: The match. Following the match, video leaked online that showed Brunswijk paying Olimpia players after the match, suspecting pundits that Brunswijk engaged in match fixing . On 22 September 2021, CONCACAF launched a formal investigation. Three days later, the federation announced the investigation had found "serious breaches of integrity rules", with both clubs being disqualified from the tournament and Brunswijk being banned from "participating in any capacity in CONCACAF competitions" for three years as

1178-635: The rivers and roads. The primary medical care is performed by Medische Zending . The resort can be reached via the Avobakaweg . On 15 May 2020, the Afobakaweg will connect to the Dési Delano Bouterse Highway , the only motorway in Suriname between Paramaribo and Zanderij . Brownsberg can be reached from the town of Brownsweg. Stoneiland , a tourist resort and beach, is located at the foot of

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1216-410: The second half during the 6–0 home loss. He made history by becoming the oldest player to play in an international club competition, at 60 years and 198 days old. He donned the number 61 jersey as a tribute to the year he was born and captained the team during the match. He played together with his son Damian Brunswijk in the first half of the game. Brunswijk made international headlines for playing in

1254-495: The town of Moengo . On August 20, 1986, the bauxite processing plants responsible for most of the economic prosperity in the area would be shut down by the Suriname Aluminum Company due to the Jungle Commandos' increased presence in the area. The following day, on August 21, the Jungle Commandos attacked a nearby military platoon at Ajumara Kondre. These attacks led to the jungle commandos' possessing primary control over

1292-450: The villages Wakibasoe 1, 2, 3, Bierhoedoematoe , Kadjoe, Nieuw Ganze, Djankakondre, Makambi, and Nieuw-Koffiekamp . Brownsweg is often used to refer to most villages, because they have grown together, except for Bierhoedoematoe and Nieuw-Koffiekamp which are still detached. The largest ethnic group of Brownsweg are the Maroons . Most of the inhabitants still live tribally in villages near

1330-705: Was convicted in absentia in the Netherlands to eight years imprisonment for cocaine smuggling by a Dutch court in Haarlem despite numerous witnesses contesting the claims. Brunswijk appealed the ruling pursuant to insufficient evidence. In 2000, he was convicted to six years on appeal. There is as of July 2020, an Interpol arrest warrant against him. Brunswijk is chairman of the Surinamese political party General Liberation and Development Party ( Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij , ABOP). In December 2007, Brunswijk and Paul Somohardjo assaulted Rashied Doekhi ,

1368-506: Was launched on the army barracks in Albina . The National Army responded by destroying the temple in Moengotapoe , and capturing all males present. Later Brunswijk's birth village of Moiwana was attacked which resulted in the death of at least 35 people. These attacks served as the catalyst for the Surinamese Interior War . The Jungle Commando would soon begin primarily acting in and around

1406-410: Was suspended for one year because he behaved violently towards the referee and a player in football match. On 21 September 2021, Brunswijk played for Inter Moengotapoe (the club he owns) as a starter in the first leg of a round of 16 fixture in the 2021 CONCACAF League against Honduran side C.D. Olimpia . He played for 54 minutes and completed 14 of the 17 attempted passes before he was replaced in

1444-460: Was then brought up river where the Jungle Commando would use this equipment to take control of Carib and Arowak. Shortly after this series of attacks, the government would begin pursuing negotiations with the Jungle Commando in late November. In June 1989, the Jungle Commando and the Surinamese government agreed to a cease fire. On July 21, the two parties signed the Accord of Kaurou to formally recognize

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