News In Brief

Suriname cuts Cuban ties and expels ambassador

Suriname's military ruler, in a surprise reversal of the country's increasingly pro-Cuban stand, has suspended agreements with Cuba and ordered its ambassador to leave. Lt. Col. Desi Bouterse, in a nationally televised speech Tuesday, said he had ordered the Cuban Embassy to scale down its personnel to the level of charge d'affaires and given Ambassador Oscar Oswaldo Cardenas six days to leave the country. Sources close to Colonel Bouterse said he believed the coup last week in Grenada was backed by Cuba and he feared a repetition of events in Suriname, a former Dutch colony on Brazil's northern border.