REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PARAMARIBO -- Suriname's President Desi Bouterse was sworn in Wednesday for a new five-year term, which the ex-dictator and convicted drug trafficker pledged to use to bolster the country's economic independence.

Bouterse, 69, has been the small South American country's elected leader since 2010, and previously held power in the 1980s and 90s as a military dictator.

He was reelected unopposed by the National Assembly last month after his National Democratic Party (NDP) won a small majority at elections in May.

Bouterse vowed in his inauguration speech to foster economic growth by increasing Suriname's economic independence.