Suriname’s New Leader Vows to Make Oil Wealth ‘Available to All’

Jennifer Geerlings-Simons is sworn in at the National Assembly in Paramaribo, Suriname, on June 29.Photographer: Ranu Abhelakh/AFP/Getty Images

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July 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM UTC

Suriname officially elected its first female president as the small, Dutch-speaking nation on the Caribbean coast of South America prepares to navigate an oil boom.

Lawmakers backed Jennifer Geerlings-Simons and her vice president, Gregory Rusland, on Sunday in the Surinamese capital of Paramaribo after the incumbent party opted against putting forward a challenger.