Editor's Note (September 2025): This post was my original announcement for the video documentary series. The project has since been officially titled "The Suriname Contra Affair," and the first video, discussed below, now serves as the official SERIES TRAILER. You can find the new, dedicated post for the new series kick-off The 65 Hostages You Never Heard Of here:
The 65 Hostages You Never Heard Of
This was the first time in my life I realized that there are events that happen that the public is not made aware of. We made our way back to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the days following the coup. I cannot recall a single conversation taking place a…
First off, candidly, trying to give birth to a dream — especially if that dream is yourself— is daunting. It's one thing to do all the research, to be sniffing out the trail and to have a hunch of what's going on. It's another thing entirely to put on your best suit, stand in front of a jury and present your case.
So here we are. After months of chasing declassified documents and connecting dots that were intentionally scattered, I've finally pulled together The Suriname Contra Affair as a visual documentary and podcast. And yeah, it's officially live on YouTube now.
Note: This podcast episode contains the audio version. For the full visual experience with declassified documents, maps, and historical footage, watch on YouTube below.
One of the hardest things about trying to unpack a story like this (in addition to the fact that it's largely classified or newly unclassified material) is that people purposefully buried the facts, used disinformation artists to shield the information, and then constructed carefully manicured storylines for public consumption. So, when you're trying to challenge that narrative, you're going to get resistance from a variety of channels.
There's the old axiom that's become almost trite by now of "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" or something like that. I tend to agree—and I'm more than happy to go to extraordinary measures to find them—but you don't always find the smoking gun, sometimes you find a gun at the bottom of the swamp that's rusted with no fingerprints or serial numbers. So, you have a mountain of circumstantial evidence.
The other challenge is that being right—and telling a good story are not always the same thing. For those who have slogged through the last year of pure research, you get that. It's not always been compelling reading, compounding that is the fact that many would rather watch than read—which is a gut punch when you've spent the last ten years learning how to write :) But, so it goes. I realized that I need to put out more simple stories in a visual medium for those who prefer those channels. But, damn, that's not easy either. Trying to write, edit and submit a weekly podcast on top of your writing and your normal life is a lot, a lot.
But, labor pains, right? You may notice that I'm experimenting a bit here. For example, I've recently created an archive. In the last week or two, I released two deep dives that are heavily oriented to getting the facts down—one was about the specific types of airplanes trapped on the tarmac during the 1980 coup in Suriname—it's important because it tells us what types of missions they were running out of the country. But, not everyone is interested, so I'll link to those articles in the main articles for those who want to double click and dive into the weeds. There's also an article I dropped about "Operation Red Christmas" that shows the similarity in operations and name between events in Nicaragua and Suriname in 1981 and 1982.
Here's What's in This Week’s Video:
SERIES TRAILER: The Suriname Contra Affair covers:
Video of specialized EC-135 A/RIAs, trapped during the 1980 Suriname coup
How this event triggered comprehensive changes to America's national security protocols
The formation of Reagan's classified "Project Democracy" initiative
Photos of our backyard next door to Desi Bouterse’s compound and a few of me playing in the treehouse where I used to spy on him.
The December 1982 murders that became a pivotal but forgotten moment in Cold War operations
Watch it Here:
The editing quality isn't perfect, because that's not my strength. But, you will get to hear me tell the story with some visuals to go along with it, and I think that helps. Plus, we’ll hopefully get a little better every week, right? Part II: "Operation Red Christmas - The Wolves of Paramaribo" is already in production.
I would ask for you to like, comment, subscribe on YouTube as well. It helps the algorithm, and I'd like eventually to get this in the hands of someone who can turn it into a proper documentary. For those of you who prefer the written stuff, don't worry—I'm still finishing the comprehensive five-part series here on Substack. The video is just another way in, especially for those who'd rather listen while doing laundry.
If you have any suggestions, feedback, pointers—I'd love to hear them. This whole thing remains a work in progress, and your input genuinely shapes where it goes next.
As always, I appreciate you,
Matthew
