NationStates Jolt Archive

Address by Thomas Sankara, president of Free Burkina Faso, November 25 2003:

Friends, compatriots, brothers in the international community, I come to you to speak of the successes of the Burkinabe revolution and the challenges our tiny nation faces in the years ahead. Our strong, proud, and upright national citizenry are unique to West Africa in that their revolutionary zeal has allowed them to be part of one of the few nations of the region who have escaped neo-colonialist domination and Western exploitation. The people's revolution of 1983 has allowed us to break the shackles of oppression clasped upon our hands by the industrialized nations and the bourgoisse colaborators who had allowed them free reign and exploited our people for their economic benefit.

Our government has made enormous strides in improving the lives of our people. A concerted, 20 year tree planting effort has made great strides in preventing erosion and slowing the spread of the encroaching Sahel desert from the north. Modern agricultural equipment, provided by our Soviet and Cuban friends has allowed us to modernize our agriculture; where once %90 of our people labored in the fields as peasants, only %30 are now in the agriculture field; and despite this, for the first time in decades we produce enough food to meet domestic needs and keep our people healthy and well fed. With this shift from the countryside to the city, a burgeoning and thriving working class has emerged and given us the necessary labor to develop light industry outside the food processing fields and even heavy manufacturing. Ouagadougou is now home to over an iron refinery, a car manufacturing plant, textile mills, and lumber facilities. Tribal violence, fuedal methods of land distribution, and backwards and dictatorial powers of tribal chiefs to demand labor and tribute have been stripped. Universal education provides not only literacy, but mandatory language and cultural training to allow our people to better understand their Burkinabe brothers and sisters. No longer does the Mossi look down on his Fulani brother with contempt and ignorance. Our army is truly a revolutionary one, having no place for those who look down on the people with contempt as the armed forces of other developing neo-colonial states have done, and our troops do not sit about eating up the national budget; they build roads, sewer facilities, housing projects and useful public works.

Slowly but surely, Burkina Faso is beginning to move into the modern world, and conditions for our people have improved markedly since our revolutionary struggle first began, despite counterrevolutions and failed coups and internal conflict. Unfortunatly, much remains to be done, and I fear we may not be able to do it on our own.

Recent droughts have drastically cut our food production and left many of our farmers out of work. This is even with our modern irrigation techniques, without which the disaster may have been permanently crippling. Urban migration has soared, along with unemployment; as of last estimate, %37. Hunger has been unheard of for the past 10 years, and yet we now see empty bellies in our women and children. In addition, counterrevolutionary elements have begun to spring up under our noses, supported by imperialist powers intent on bringing our government to ruin; elements we have problems fighting, as our army is organized for developement, engineering, and external defense, not rooting out clandestine groups.

Our primary needs are for well tested, proven drought-prevention methods and means of getting our food production back onto track; security aid, in the form of training and small arms; and limited economic assistance to help in the purchasing of food, continued funding of social welfare and public housing, and the revitalization of local industry.

Make no mistake, the Burkinabe are a proud and stalwart people and accept no charity, or "foreign aid" with strings attached that twist around our neck like a noose. We seek only assistance in the spirit of solidarity and mutual aid, in the interest of the truly international struggle of the global proletariat. A strong, revolutionary Burkina Faso is in the interests of all like-minded nations who with to keep imperialism and neo-colonialism's grip from strangling West Africa into submission.

Homeland or death, we will triumph!

http://www.littlebluething.com/images/sankara.jpg
Thomas Sankara, President of the People's Republic of Free Burkina Faso

OOC NOTE: This is an alternative history of Burkina Faso, in which the revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara is never assassinated in '87 and stays in power till the present day. FBF comprises the same area as the RL Burkina Faso, with a small chunk of land on the border with Benin listed as 'disputed territory'.

BUMP

BUMP

Bump. Last time, I promise. Uhh, hopefully.

May we direct you to the Developing Nations Aid Commission and the Third World Solidarity Conference?

come join my region, the Planar Orb of the Holy Knights, and gain money, weapons, allies, and other benefits. I am Judicator Lucius Eques Dei of the UND and i invite you to come join my region. if you decide to join, the password is "Stukov".
also check out the region and feel free to ask me any questions.

I will help you in your financial crisis or any other problems you may have, if you come to my region i will grant you a generous sum of money, free access to our soon to be launched storefront, you will become full allies with every nation in the region and will recieve a free firestorm generator. my region is very cooperative and very organized. the weapons company is the Omega Clan Corperation, regional problems are discussed through a meeting with the astral council which is made up of the 4 strongest nations, we have our own philosophy phrase of the day, and we constantly talk to each other about the status of our own nations and how we can help each other out so that each of us grows to our full extent.

"Their story sounds much like our own!" An enthused President Igomo spouted, though no one was aware of quite what he had been reading.
Ever obsessed with African unity and self-sufficiency, the President was happy to find any distraction from the simmering border dispute with the Congolese of the African Commonwealth to the west, and the re-emergence of the distrusted Salisbury regime to the south.

He (President Igomo) was quick to arrange a communiqué to Ouagadougou expressing Lusakan solidarity with the Burkinabe.
The text referenced Lusaka's recent economic down-turn; caused by the combination of a global slump and regional insecurity; citing it as a regrettable barrier to significant aid.

However, Lusaka did hope to establish relations; exchange ambassadors, initiate productive trade, and so forth; and was prepared to accept Burkinabe recruits at its growing military training facilities. The nation is presently undergoing a regrettable degree of military growth for reasons apparent, and a few more trainees couldn't hurt.

Provided that Sankara's response was positive and Igomo could at least feel that Burkina Faso was likely to be a civil associate, the President was prepared to deliver small arms to that nation.

Lusakan forces had once in recent history been on the ground close to Burkina Faso- during the early days of Ghanaian socialist government peacekeepers were deployed there in strength. Presumably migrant farmers (if any remained even then) would have had contact with the peacekeepers, which is a positive point, as the Lusakans were doing their damndest to promote a positive image at the time.

While not the most modern of weapons, Lusaka might be able to supply a number of its standard service rifle, the Yugoslav-designed M59/66A1 rifles (manufactured in Lusaka, using African woods better suited to the climate) -a semi-automatic 7.62x39mm rifle with a folding bayonet and capability for firing muzzle-grenades. The better known 9x19mm Uzi sub-machinegun could also be available in quantity.

Igomo made sure that the communiqué was finished with apologies for its excessively militaristic bent, but, as he said, "needs must".

http://www.nigerianarmy.net/images/homepageimages/COASBig.jpg
President Derek Igomo of the United African Republic of Lusaka, pictured just days ago before the army manouvers near Mzuzu.

The response from the Sankara government was immediate and positive; the offer of an exchange of ambassadors was accepted immediatly, and Ambassador Frances Mugatu was dispatched within the day to the Lusakan capital to make diplomatic contacts.

The response to Lusaka's offer to help modernize the military's combat forces were somewhat more apprehensive. While a standard service rifle would make things a great deal easier for the men in charge of logistics, but the government is chronically short on funds and currently in deficit spending. Offers of training were met with the same apprehension, for the same reasons. Fears were expressed that training the country's 16,000 strong People's Revolutionary Army could bankrupt the country, even if it were restricted to the mere 4500 men who specialize only in combat. The Economic Ministry essentially stated that before approval could be given, costs would have to be analyzed.

Sankara also expressed his personal thoughts at this offer. "The citizens of Free Burkina Faso who have had contact with your troops generally report to us positivly; during the Ghanain crises, not a single report of cross-border raids, looting, or killings was reported. Sadly, I must say, this is a good track record given the history and structure of our continent, where the armies of many neo-colonial African states act as nothing more than uniformed death squads and private militias. We will take your offer of training into consideration, once preliminary transportation and cost arrangments are carefully scrutinized, on a single condition: that all our men recieve mandatory human rights training, and at least a few days of instruction on the function and importance of international law."

Sankara also added: "President Igomo, you need not apologize for expressing concern over Burkina Faso's internal security. It has weighed heavily on my mind as well. What could become an international incident is looming on the horizon, though few yet know of it. Our troops have massed on a small border area close to Benin, in response to aggressive movements by their soldiers against several disputed villages. Talks with the Benin government have been unsuccessful, and they seem to wish to resolve this dispute with muscle instead of negotiation and careful foresight.

At this juncture we cannot afford a deadly bush war, not when our main priority should be getting the unemployed and the drought-stricken farmers back to productive work. With the ranks of the unemployed whittling down our Food Security Surplus and our budget drained by emergency spending, we are not in a good position to negotiate a peaceful solution; counter-intuitive thought it may seem, I believe non-military economic assistance may be of great use in avoiding war, allowing us to negotiate the Benin conflict from a position of strength. We understand that Lusaka finds itself in a similar economic downturn, and I would certainly not ask you to worsen your own situation for our sake, perhaps your government may offer us advice on how to correct our unfortunate situation?"

We have heard the call, and we shall answer.

With your presidential address, your nation has come to our attention, and we would be most honored to exchange ambassadors with your nation, so that we may forge closer ties for a mutually beneficial tomorrow.

Regarding the assistance that you seek, the Socialist Commonwealth of Anhierarch, we are honored to offer our aid. With our massive, high-tech agricultural sector we would like to offer the services of our own irrigation engineers and land management specialists, who can advise in the devising of a robust agricultural sector resistant to droughts and other adverse weather conditions. In the spirit of solidarity, should you request it we can dispatch consignments of emergency food aid.

Regarding economic assistance, as we forsee your nation will continue on the path of egalitarianism, liberty and equality, we invite you to send a delegation to the CACE Headquarters* in Celdonia. While your nation does not yet meet the CACE's requirements, we still desire to bring our organization to your attention. As a member of CACE, one would have access to a mutually beneficial and non-exploitative trading bloc, shielding your nation from the market manipulations of other, less enlightened economies. If the charter of the CACE is not amenable, however, we would encourage you to sign the International Fair Trade Treaty, details of which are available in the Celdonian Diplomatic Quarter, where the CACE HQ is as well.

~Overseer Aelena Bjornsson, Synod for External Affairs

The Socialist Commonwealth of Anhierarch

[ooc:

The CACE HQ may be found at www.invisionfree.com/forums/CACE

The forum for IFTA signatories is also found at the same address. Feel free to poke around.]

The Empire of Gradenk would like to help this fledgeling nation to get back on it's knees. We would like to set up numerous corporations and aid agencies in your nation.

We have gathered together a consortium of private companies which has total capital liquidity in excess of USD 400 billion. Additionally, The Empire of Gradenk has granted the use of USD 1 trillion dollars for Microcredit scheme over 10 years.


We would also like to direct you to the Urr Trade Pact Financial Bank

http://invisionfree.com/forums/UTP/index.php?

In total, Gradenk together with her corporations pledge 1.4 trillion dollars to your nation. We hope that People's Republic of Free Burkina Faso would become a beacon of hope in an otherwise troubled continent.

Ambassador Mugatu will be welcomed in Lusaka, and given immediate station in New Lusaka City, in the Mbeya district of Old Tanzania.

While Igomo had initially felt that training Burkinabe soldiers would be too expensive to take on without compensation, figures as low as 4,500 have caused him to reconsider somewhat. With Lusaka's army now swelled to almost one hundred times that size (from an initial 150,000), the president is prepared to arrange for inclusion of something in the area of 4,500 Burkinabe recruits in the present mass training programme as a..manifestation of Lusaka's friendship, and the President's famous desire for African strength and self-sufficiency.

In accordance with Ouagadougou's wishes, any recruits sent would attend the regular training schools- those used in times of normal security demand, and geared towards provoding Lusaka with a relatively well trained and professional core of men, rather than the more.. militia-like mass currently being produced to defend against possible invasion.

Igomo hopes that access to Lusaka's vast markets, with their marginally higher than Burkinabe buying power, will be a stimulant to Free Burkina Faso's economic regeneration to some degree. It is hoped that following such a recovery, Burkina Faso's apparently relatively large urban and professional class will provide a significant market for low cost Lusakan consumer goods.

OOC: Grr. Sorry for taking so freakin' long to respond to this.

Free Burkina Faso welcomes the offers of assistance from Anierarch and Lusaka. Ambassadors will be immediatly exchanged with Anhierarch to establish diplomatic contacts, and the IFTA will be put before parliament for signing and ratification. Additionally, we accept Anhierarch's offer to help improve our agricultural sector. Any advisors, technicians, diplomats, or the like who wish to enter the country will be granted immediate entry permits and allowed free travel across the whole of the Burkinabe countryside.

We also offer our thanks to Lusaka. With the opening of Lusakan markets and the renewed exportation of iron, textiles, cotton and wood, our economy is beginning to pick up slowly but steadily; all indicators seem to be relativly positive. More people are buying Lusakan goods, which pleases us greatly. The more Africans buying African made products, the less our continent will have to rely on the ridiculously expensive manufactured goods of the West. Lusaka's offer to help our national army has been well recieved and approved unanimously by Parliament, and the first platoons will be arriving at Lusakan airbases this week.

We are also interested in making arrangements for the aquisition of Lusakan rifles, as our own arms are nowhere close to being standardized. We would greatly appreciate if preliminary arrangements could be made for the purchase of 30,000 of these guns, with the appropriate amounts of spare parts and ammunition.

The Igomo government is delighted to be in continuation of early good relations between Lusaka and Free Burkina Faso.

Lusakan State Arsenals are said to be capable of meeting the Burkinabe rifle demand, though due to increased domestic need, the 30,000 sought rifles shall not be delievered up-front as such. Their number will be taken from the usual production run over a period of months, with several hundred to a few thousand delivered aboard a transport aircraft each month. New Lusaka City hopes that this arrangement will be workable for Burkina Faso.

Presently the rifle most available is the Lusakan version of the Yugoslav M59/66A1, a less than modern rifle said none the less to be accurate, reliable, and easily and affordably maintained. It also carries the added advantages of fitting a folding bayonet for close quarter fighting, and of being able to fire muzzle grenades- a significant force-multiplier for a small infantry unit. Firing 7.62x39mm ammunition, the rifle's needs are compatable with many other weapons such as Russian light machineguns and sniper rifles, and a nation may easily upgrade its standard rifle to perhaps the early AK family without needing to change its munitions manufacture or acquisition. The rifle, in short, may serve along side other weapons without creating a logistical nightmare.

http://www.floridagunworks.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/070%20sm.jpg
M59/66A1, the standard infantry arm of the Lusakan army- its semi-automatic fire capacity is said to encourage controlled fire in raw recruits who might otherwise waste an entire AK magazine in seconds without taking careful aim

http://www.nigerianarmy.net/images/signalschool/nacss6.jpg
Burkinabe recruits shall receive the best all-around training available in Lusaka

OOC: Grr. Sorry for taking so freakin' long to respond to this.

Free Burkina Faso welcomes the offers of assistance from Anierarch and Lusaka. Ambassadors will be immediatly exchanged with Anhierarch to establish diplomatic contacts, and the IFTA will be put before parliament for signing and ratification. Additionally, we accept Anhierarch's offer to help improve our agricultural sector. Any advisors, technicians, diplomats, or the like who wish to enter the country will be granted immediate entry permits and allowed free travel across the whole of the Burkinabe countryside.


Excellent. I shall dispatch an avatar of myself post haste, as the First Ambassador of Anhierarch.

We shall inform the relevant organizations of this, and we expect the first flights of advisors and technicians to begin within two weeks. We look forward to a bright future for both our nations.

~First Ambassador Inviolus

Ambassadorial Office of the Commonwealth

Increased exports to Lusakan and Anhierarchan agricultural assistance have helped drag Burkina Faso out of its severe economic downturn. Increase in export revenues has allowed greater reinvestment into publically owned industries, leading to a sharp decrease in the unemployment rate from a high of %38 to %21.4 and an increase in GDP per capita to $6000, the highest in the nation's history. The introduction of modern irrigation techniques into the Burkinabe countryside has also done much to alleviate the drought, with food production predicted to become once again self-sufficient and provide for the majority of the nation's food needs. We offer our profuse thanks to Lusaka and Anhierarch, whose generous aid has made this recovery possible.

Additionally, president Thomas Sankara has announced an ambitious plan to expand the armed forces with the newfound budget surpluses. Recruitment drives are being set up with the goal of increasing the size of the army from 30,000 to 55,000 and a plan has been set in motion for the creation of a Rapid Reaction Force. The plan calls for the full modernization and mechanization of a full 13,000 man division, allowed for rapid deployment of soldiers in force to areas of conflict or unrest. Said RRF division will include quantities of Hind helicopter gunships and a full complement of scout cars, APCs and supply trucks, and its troops will be armed with fully modern weaponry. Domestic auto-production facilities will be taken advantage of for the purposes of building supply vehicles and possible modification for armored vehicle construction. Current timetables call for completion of the RRF within a period of 3 years.