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Burkina Faso

From ProleWiki, the proletarian encyclopedia
Revision as of 16:05, 3 August 2023 by Ledlecreeper27 (talk | contribs) (2022 coup)
Burkina Faso
𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮
Flag of Burkina Faso
Flag
Coat of arms of Burkina Faso
Coat of arms
Location of Burkina Faso
Capital
and largest city
Ouagadougou
Official languagesFrench
GovernmentMilitary junta
• President
Ibrahim Traoré
Area
• Total
274,200 km²
Population
• 2020 estimate
21,510,181


Burkina Faso is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Upper Volta before being renamed by Thomas Sankara in 1984.

History

The Upper Volta was colonized by the French and became independent in 1960. After independence, it became the neocolonial Republic of Upper Volta, which was one of the poorest and least literate countries in the world. Before Sankara's revolution in 1983, the life expectancy was only 40 years and only 2% of the population could read.[1]

Revolution

In 1983, Prime Minister and former Secretary of State Thomas Sankara invited Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to Upper Volta without permission from President Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. Protests began in May after Ouédraogo arrested Sankara, leading to a military coup that made Sankara president.

Within weeks, Sankara's government vaccinated 2.5 million children and began a literacy campaign. By 1987, the literacy rate had increased to 73%. Burkina Faso planted ten million trees to prevent desertification and built roads and railroads. Sankara redistributed land from feudal lords to the peasants, and wheat production per hectare more than doubled.[1]

Counterrevolution

On 15 October 1987, Blaise Compaoré murdered Sankara and took power of the country. He privatized natural resources and joined the IMF. Compaoré ruled until an uprising in 2014.[1]

2022 coup

In September 2022, Ibrahim Traoré led an anti-French coup. In February 2023, he met with the governments of Guinea and Mali and proposed creating a federation. He criticized the African Union for siding with the West.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Curry Malott (2020-12-21). "Thomas Sankara: Leadership and action that inspires 71 years later" Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  2. Vijay Prashad, Kambale Musavuli (2023-08-01). "Niger Is the Fourth Country in the Sahel to Experience an Anti-Western Coup" Independent Media Institute. Retrieved 2023-08-03.