Venetiaan, Ronald (Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan) [key], 1936–, Surinamese political leader, president of Suriname (1991–96, 2000–2010). A mathematician by training, he became minister of education in 1973. He won his first and second terms as president as part of the New Front for Democracy coalition, and his third, in 2005, with the additional support of the A-Combination party. Venetiaan is credited with bringing economic and political reforms to the country after the military dictatorship of Désiré Bouterse. He resigned his seat in Suriname's parliament in 2013.
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