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| - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to South America on Thursday, for a trip being interpreted in Suriname as a vote of confidence in the country's new government. Suriname Foreign Minister Albert Ramdin said he would hold talks with Pompeo when the US official arrives in Paramaribo, before the US diplomat heads to neighboring Guyana's capital Georgetown. Ramdin said Thursday's scheduled two-hour meeting was a sign of US confidence in the oil-and-gold exporter's new government. Chan Santokhi's July election in the former Dutch colony brought an end to a decade of rule under military strongman turned politician Desi Bouterse. Suriname, on the northeastern shoulder of South America, shares a border with Guyana, Brazil and -- through French Guiana -- with France. In Georgetown, Pompeo will hold talks with members of President Irfaan Ali's new government, finally declared winner in August after months of legal wrangling over the results of an election held in March. Pompeo in July announced visa sanctions on members of the outgoing administration of David Granger for "undermining democracy." The victory gave Ali's government control of a widely anticipated oil boom in the tiny country, which has a population of just 750,000. Last December, ExxonMobil began commercial exploitation of a huge 2016 oil discovery off the coast, and production is expected to grow from 52,000 barrels per day to 750,000 from 2025. burs/db/ft
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