Editing Dési Bouterse (section)

== Illness and death ==
{{Location map |Suriname
|alt        = Hideout 
|lat_deg    = 5.513339
|lon_deg    = -54.801915
| label = Presumed last hideout
|relief = yes
}}

During his presidency, Bouterse underwent routine medical checkups in Cuba. After returning from a month-long stay in the island in September 2017, his office acknowledged that he had undergone surgery for an undisclosed condition.<ref name="apdead"/> 

Bouterse died following a short illness on 23 December 2024, at the age of 79, while he was in hiding at an undisclosed location in Suriname to avoid imprisonment for his conviction in the December murders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/suriname-ex-president-desi-bouterse-dead-79-foreign-minister-says-2024-12-25/ |title=Suriname's fugitive ex-President Desi Bouterse dead at 79 |work=Reuters |date=25 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="DWT overlijden" /><ref name="Startnieuws overlijden" /> An autopsy later found that he had died from a "liver failure complication from serious liver fibrosis caused by chronic alcohol consumption".<ref name="cremation"/> Dutch news outlets reported that Bouterse hid in the [[Copi Nature Reserve]], 50 kilometers from Paramaribo.<ref>https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/12/29/bouterse-verbleef-mogelijk-in-de-surinaamse-jungle-a4878018</ref><ref>https://nos.nl/video/2550027-hier-hield-desi-bouterse-zich-vermoedelijk-schuil</ref> His body was subsequently taken to his residence in [[Paramaribo]] on 25 December.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241225-suriname-ex-dictator-and-fugitive-desi-bouterse-dead-at-79 |title=Suriname ex-dictator and fugitive Desi Bouterse dead at 79 |work=France 24 |date=26 December 2024}}</ref> Following his death, President [[Chan Santokhi]] announced that no period of national mourning or a [[state funeral]] was to be held, although Foreign Minister [[Albert Ramdin]] said that [[flag of Suriname|flags]] in government buildings were to be set at [[half-mast]] on the day of his funeral out of respect for Bouterse being a former president.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241228-suriname-rules-out-state-funeral-for-ex-dictator-bouterse |title=Suriname rules out state funeral for ex-dictator Bouterse |work=France 24 |date=29 December 2024}}</ref> Bouterse's National Democratic Party said that his remains would be cremated.<ref name="cremation">{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241231-suriname-ex-dictator-bouterse-to-be-cremated-on-saturday |title=Suriname ex-dictator Bouterse to be cremated on Saturday |work=France 24 |date=1 January 2025}}</ref>