| Dési Bouterse | |
| Office: | 8th President of Suriname |
| Vicepresident: | Robert Ameerali (2010–2015) Ashwin Adhin (2015–2020) |
| Term Start: | 12 August 2010 |
| Term End: | 16 July 2020 |
| Predecessor: | Ronald Venetiaan |
| Successor: | Chan Santokhi |
| Office1: | President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations |
| Term Start1: | 30 August 2013 |
| Term End1: | 4 December 2014 |
| Predecessor1: | Ollanta Humala |
| Successor1: | José Mujica |
| Office2: | President of the National Democratic Party |
| Term Start2: | 4 July 1987 |
| Term End2: | 13 July 2024 |
| Predecessor2: | Party established |
| Successor2: | Jennifer Geerlings-Simons |
| Office3: | Chairman of the National Military Council |
| President3: | Johan Ferrier Henk Chin A Sen Fred Ramdat Misier |
| Term Start3: | 25 February 1980 |
| Term End3: | 27 November 1987 |
| Predecessor3: | Office established |
| Successor3: | Office abolished |
| Birth Name: | Desiré Delano Bouterse |
| Birth Date: | 13 October 1945 |
| Birth Place: | Domburg, Suriname |
| Party: | National Democratic Party |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 3, including Dino Bouterse |
Desiré Delano Bouterse[1] (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈdeːsi ˈbʌutərsə/; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer, and drug trafficker[2] [3] who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's de facto leader after conducting a military coup and establishing a period of military rule. In 1987, Bouterse founded the National Democratic Party (NDP). On 25 May 2010, Bouterse's political alliance, the Megacombinatie ("Mega combination"), which included the NDP, won the parliamentary elections, and on 19 July 2010, Bouterse was elected as President of Suriname with 36 of 50 parliament votes.[4] He was inaugurated on 12 August 2010.[5]
Bouterse is a controversial figure, held responsible by some for numerous human rights violations committed during his military rule in the 1980s. Most notable were the December murders in 1982. He was prosecuted for the murders, and a trial was initiated, but the National Assembly extended amnesty to him in 2012. After the trial was forced to continue, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 29 November 2019.[6] He is also suspected of having directed the Moiwana massacre in 1986 against a village of Maroons during the Surinamese Interior War which pitted his government first against the maroon guerrilla group Jungle Commando, led by his former bodyguard, Ronnie Brunswijk, and then against the indigenous group Tucayana Amazonas.[7]