REVOTV7 SPECIAL: The Destruction of Our Interior — The Hard Truth Behind the Mennonites and the Land Mafia
Updated: 3 days ago
PARAMARIBO — While the political top in Paramaribo constantly speaks of economic progress, agricultural development, and food security, an ecological disaster of unprecedented proportions is unfolding in absolute silence deep within the Surinamese interior. In an exclusive and revealing broadcast on RevoTv7, host Johny Griffith exposes the secrecy surrounding this large-scale deforestation. Joining him at the table is environmental activist Erlan Sleur of Probios, who has personally scouted the area with his boots in the mud and returns with shocking evidence.
The Shock of Tibiti: Worse than Gold Mining
For years, the destructive impact of illegal gold mining in Eastern and Central Suriname has been a well-known crisis. Forests are excavated, and creeks are heavily contaminated with mercury. However, according to Erlan Sleur, the current operations surrounding the Mennonite expansion completely eclipse all previous ecological damage.
"People sometimes accuse us of being obsessed with the Mennonites, but that is pure blindness," Sleur states sharply. "The large-scale agriculture they want to establish is going to destroy far more forest in a much shorter period than all the gold mining along the Saramacca, Suriname, Marowijne, and Lawa rivers combined."
Probios has documented the destruction on the ground. Sleur describes heavy, industrial machinery specifically customized to forcefully plow down the Surinamese rainforest: "We filmed them operating massive yellow bulldozers equipped with a custom-fabricated iron bumper on the front, measuring about 6 to 7 meters long and 5 meters wide. They are using these to flatten entire forests at record speed to make way for massive monocultures of soy and corn."
The Political Backroom Conspiracy
The burning question looming over the RevoTv7 studio is how this was allowed to progress so far without the ordinary citizen or the National Assembly (DNA) knowing a single thing. Sleur dives into the history, pointing directly at the political corruption. The conspiracy traces back to September 2022.
According to leaked documents, a deal was brokered behind closed doors by the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management (GGB) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries (LVV), under direct orders from the presidential office. LVV Minister Sewdien wrote a letter to his GGB colleague Vorswijk, stipulating that a staggering 350,000 hectares of pristine forest land along the Surinaamse forest belt—stretching from east to west, from Apoera to Zanderij—was earmarked for industrial farming.
"Everything was done in total secrecy," Sleur reveals. "The letters only leaked in January 2023, and we were absolutely horrified. But it explains exactly why Suriname suddenly voted against an international declaration by President Lula to reduce Amazon deforestation to zero by 2030 during the Amazon Conference in Belém, Brazil, in October 2022. They already had their plans locked in to sacrifice massive portions of our Surinamese rainforest."
The Infiltration of the Land Mafia
Shady international figures emerge right behind the scenes of these massive land transactions. Sleur names Dutch investor Ruud Soeverein, who established the Terra Invest foundation, and his Argentine business partner, Adrian Barbero.
"Barbero is officially notorious in Bolivia and Peru as a dangerous land mafioso," the Probios chairman warns. "The evidence is undeniable. His methods abroad are always identical: bribing civil servants, forging titles, and tricking Indigenous communities into signing documents whose actual consequences they do not comprehend. Afterwards, they discover they have lost all their land rights."
This exact same strategy is now being deployed on Surinamese soil, targeting local Indigenous and Maroon brothers. "When you present people in the interior who are living in poverty with a bag containing 10,000 or 300.000 US dollars in cash and promise them employment, they take the bait quickly. What they are not told is that they are permanently signing away the rights to their own ancestral territories, and that their traditional lands will suddenly become the property of foreign multinationals."
"Soeverein and Souvenier": The Collaborators
One of the most shocking revelations in the interview is the active role of local middlemen who appear to be selling out their own communities. Sleur points explicitly to the former captain Souvenier of the Kwinti territory in Witagron. Despite being officially removed from his position by the Paramount Chief (Gramman) back in 2023, he continues to posture as a legitimate main captain.
"Let us warn the people in Apoera and surrounding areas clearly: this man is a snake," Sleur states bluntly. "He purely represents the commercial interests of the Dutchman Ruud Soeverein and has undoubtedly received heavy 'gifts' for doing so. The Gramman of the Kwinti feels completely betrayed by Souvenier's actions. It is a filthy partnership: Soeverein and Souvenier, two peas in a pod."
The ultimate proof of this underground operation is a secretly recorded video that recently surfaced. The footage clearly shows the Dutch investor Ruud Soeverein covertly handing over official land documents to a delegation of the Mennonites.
The Call to Action from RevoTv7
The exposures in this RevoTv7 special show that the future of the Surinamese Amazon and the rights of tribal communities hang by a thread. The destruction is no longer a distant threat; it is happening right NOW in the mud of Tibiti. RevoTv7 will continue to investigate this case thoroughly to ensure the truth comes out. Because our interior is not for sale!
Watch the full video report and the exclusive interview with Erlan Sleur now on the official RevoTv7 YouTube channel.
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