President Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday delivered remarks at the funeral service for former Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, reflecting on the strong bond they shared as regional leaders and their mutual commitment to deepening bilateral relations between their two countries. The Guyanese leader also used the occasion to subtly address the issue of the Corentyne River, noting that former President Santokhi viewed the shared waterway as a passage of unity between the two countries, not as a border for discord. “He believed that the fortunes of our two lands were braided together. He often spoke of the river not as a line between us but as a vein connecting two hearts, a passage of unity, not a border for discord,” President Ali expressed.
Suriname recently instituted fees for the use of the Corentyne River, which borders the two country – a move which local stakeholders say will significantly impact economic activities in Guyana, especially in the Berbice region. Guyana has already formally protested the decision, with President Ali previously expressing that “measures of this nature risk creating unnecessary barriers to commerce and could undermine the confidence of businesses that rely on predictable and fair operating conditions.” President Ali had also previously reminded the Government of Suriname that, “Surinamese businesses and investors have long benefited from opportunities within our economy, where they have operated without discrimination or undue restriction. This openness has been a cornerstone of our engagement.” At the funeral service, the Guyanese Head of State emphasised that former President Santokhi understood this. “Chandrikapersad Santokhi knew that true partnership between States must live in and through people, markets, in the small boats traversing the river that links us. He encouraged our private sectors to weave together, understanding that growth is not only shaped in halls of power but forged along river banks, in the patient work of hands. He dreamed of bridges, born of steel and concrete, others of trust that would bind Guyana and Suriname closer, and always to return to the simple and aching truth, that what we build must rest on fairness and neutral care,” President Ali reflected. “He reminded us that small States standing shoulder to shoulder can reach what neither can ever touch alone. He called for sure and mutually beneficial ties and he lived by that measure in every conversation, every handshake and every moment of resolve,” the Guyanese President added. Meanwhile, President Ali also reflected on the first moment he and Santokhi met as leaders, noting that that moment did more than bind them as friends.
According to President Ali, that moment became the quiet route of a new season between Guyana and Suriname. “What began as a murmur between two Presidents, became a river between two nations. And what grew between us was not diplomacy alone, no, it was something softer, rarer, it was fraternity. To me, President Santokhi was like a brother. When he first took office, he moved not with haste, but with clarity, like a man who had already read the map of his own heart. One of his earliest gestures was to reach out to me, to lean across the distance, to listen…and in that reaching, he did not simply change a tone, he turned the page of vision itself. Together, we understood that history had laid at our feet both thorns and blossoms and that leadership meant choosing the blossoms again and again,” President Ali said. In further reflecting on the life of his friend, the Guyanese leader added that, “at times when anger could have flared, he chose stillness. When others might have raised a fist, he opened the door, on sensitive ground, he walked with calm.” President Ali also recognised that Santokhi had many dreams and assured that “I will continue to press on to work hard for the realisation of those dreams and aspirations.” Santokhi, chairman of the main opposition Progressive Reform Party (VHP), died on March 30. The 67-year-old served as Suriname’s ninth head of state from 2020 to 2025. Following the May 2025 general election, Santokhi returned to Parliament as Leader of the Opposition.
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