In Paramaribo, Surinam President Ronald Venetiaan has announced that the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva does not blame the Surinam government for the violence perpetrated against Brazilians in the Surinamese town of Albina.

On Christmas Eve, townspeople of Albina attacked members of the migrant Brazilian and Chinese communities, after a local inhabitant was stabbed to death by a Brazilian gold-seeker.

The ensuing violence in which hundreds of people took part resulted in at least one death, and there are suggestions that seven people were killed. Tens of Brazilians said they were maltreated, raped or robbed. The Surinamese government brought in the army and the police, who arrested 35 suspects.

Although tension between the foreign gold-seekers and the local population has been growing for some time, this is the worst outbreak of violence yet. The Marron community says the migrants have bribed the police in Albina so they can break the law with impunity.

Photo of Albina, Surinam, from Wikimedia Commons