“The crisis of 1982 will portray Bouterse as a national hero in our history and as a man who managed to evade capture until his final days. They could never lock him up.  The social unrest that would be triggered by his imprisonment would be misused politically, so he decided to take a step back. That is why he left. He did not know fear. He did know love for all Surinamese people,” said the deputy chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Ramon Abrahams, at the funeral service of the honorary chairman of the NDP,  Desiré Delano Bouterse.

Abrahams explained that just like the former chief of staff and former president of Suriname, he also returned to Suriname after having served in the Dutch army. He arrived in Suriname in November 1975. Five years later Bouterse became known worldwide because of the military coup of 1980. According to Abrahams, Bouterse was the engine behind the multi ethnic character of the February 25 Movement and the NDP. The constitution of 1987 was established thanks to a national referendum. “The second republic of Suriname became a reality back then,” said Abrahams who claimed that The Hague managed to frustrate things by financing internal factors and filling the media with nonsense. Abrahams concluded his speech by urging his fellow citizens to search for that what Bouterse was seeking for Suriname and the people of Suriname. “There is much work to be done. Comrade Desi, rest in peace.”