Winston Guno Lackin (23 December 1954 – 11 November 2019) was a

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

se politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Suriname in the cabinet of President

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de facto ...

between 13 August 2010 and 13 August 2015.

Career

Lackin was born on 23 December 1954 in

Nickerie District Nickerie is a district of Suriname, on the north-west coast. Nickerie's capital city is Nieuw-Nickerie. Another town is Wageningen. The district borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Surinamese district of Coronie to the east, the Surinames ...

. He went to high school in the capital city of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

. Lackin subsequently studied law at the

Anton de Kom University of Suriname Anton de Kom University ( nl, Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname) is the only university in Suriname. It is located in the capital, Paramaribo, and named for Anton de Kom, an anti-colonialist activist who was killed by the Nazis while in exi ...

. Afterwards he studied at the

Rio Branco Institute The Rio Branco Institute (; Abbreviation: IRBr) is a graduate school of International Relations and diplomatic academy located in Brasília, Brazil. The institute was created on April 18, 1945, as part of the centennial celebration of the birth o ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

between 1984 and 1986 to prepare for a career in diplomacy. Between 1983 and 1984 Lackin was head of the Europe department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1986 to 1991 he was also employed by the Ministry. In 1991 he became first secretary at the Surinamese embassy at

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

. He stayed there until 1994 when he returned to his job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1997 he went abroad once more when he became counselor at the Surinamese embassy in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 2000 he returned to Suriname, where he was employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of President

on 13 August 2010. On 13 August 2015 Lackin handed over the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs to Niermala Badrising.

Policies

In the first half of 2012 Suriname held the chairmanship of the

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econom ...

, and Lackin tried to make Suriname a bridge between the Caribbean Community and the

Union of South American Nations The Union of South American Nations (USAN; es, links=no, Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR; pt, links=no, União de Nações Sul-Americanas, UNASUL; nl, links=no, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, UZAN; French: ''Union des nations s ...

. In January 2013 Lackin spoke with his Dutch colleague

Frans Timmermans Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diploma ...

, establishing the first ministerial contact with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

since 2010. Under Lackin relations between Suriname and the Netherlands improved in late 2014 and early 2015, with the countries exchanging ambassadors once more. Lackin said relations were completely restored.

Personal life

From 1985 to 1987, he was the drummer of the Brazilian music group Obina Shok. Lackin died on 11 November 2019 at his home in Suriname at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lackin, Winston 1954 births 2019 deaths Anton de Kom University of Suriname alumni Foreign ministers of Suriname National Democratic Party (Suriname) politicians People from Nickerie District Surinamese percussionists