In a little over three years, the enigmatic, dynamic, and visionary President of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has survived more than ten military coup attempts in a desperate plan by Western powers to dethrone him.
The most recent coup attempt was on April 16, 2025 when rebel groups allegedly were being aided by Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara and Western powers. The masked defectors attacked and massacred the people of Burkina Faso in a town on the Eastern border of Ivory Coast.
The rebels then warned Captain Traore to step down or risk a coup. The April 16 failed coup came on the heels of a failed plan to kill Traore through poisoning. The agenda of Western powers led by France and the USA is to disrupt the Burkinabe Revolution and return the country to foreign control and exploitation.
Timelines
According to a press release from Burkina Faso’s Minister of Security, the rebels have a timeline of June 30, 2025, to end Traore’s and his government’s rule.
The release indicated that rebel preparations were ongoing at their operations centre in the Ivory Coast, which has allowed its borders to be used as a launching pad to destabilize Burkina Faso.
The Burkinabe Security Minister revealed that a few weeks ago the country’s security intercepted multiple communications from an individual in the BF military hierarchy about the country’s security operations.
He said investigations revealed that the top officer had defected from his post and joined other defectors to plot the overthrow of Captain Traore.
General Langley’s bluff
Before the April 16 failed coup, General Langley, a United States Marine Corps who is the commander of the United States Africa Command, had accused Captain Traore of using Burkina Faso’s mineral resources to enrich and protect himself.
General Langley is reported as threatening to arrest Traore when the opportunity presents itself. Does any military General in another country have the jurisdictional power to arrest the legitimate president of a sovereign country?
This selfish accusation against Africa’s youngest and most dynamic leader flies in the face of the massive social and economic transformation that Traore is providing for his people. Furthermore, Western countries claim they want to restore democracy to Burkina Faso.
What transformation did the past democratic governments bring to Burkina Faso? They only facilitated Western control and looting of the country’s resources.
Over the last three years, Burkina Faso has witnessed massive industrialization that is geared towards economic freedom and less dependency on Western goods. This is what Americans and Europeans fear.
The question is, when France and other countries were looting the resources of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger did the populations of these poor benefit? Over the years, France has built its gold reserves with looted gold from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, although France has no single gold mine.
Indigenization policy
Against all odds, Captain Traore is a transformational leader not only for Burkina Faso, but for Africa. The real reason behind attempts by France and the United States to oust Traore is their loss of control over the country’s natural resources.
Two years after assuming power, Traore sacked French troops and nationalized all gold mines. Traore’s decision ended years of colonial exploitation of Burkina Faso’s resources. Obviously, western countries that think they have a divine right to control Africa’s populations and resources did not take Traore’s indigenization policy lightly.
Anytime Western powers tag an African leader as a dictator or a corrupt leader, the accusation becomes a legitimate ground for them to eliminate that leader. They did it to Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Amical Krabral, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara and more recently, Muamar Qaddafi of Libya to mention a few.
It is now clearly written on the wall that France and the United States want to add Traore to the growing list of African presidents they have killed or removed from power. Similarly, Maurice Bishop of Grenada was killed when he tried to break away from Western dominance.
Manufacturing consent
France and the USA are using the age-old strategy of manufacturing consent through their global media as a justification to invade and destroy Burkina Faso, like they did to Libya.
The AES leaders have accused some Western NGOs of manufacturing reports of human rights abuses about them to be used as justifications to invade these countries.
NATO’s attacks on Libya were preceded by several reports of human rights abuses and corruption, which Western powers used as a ruse to destroy the once vibrant country. Certainly, Niger and Mali, which together with Burkina Faso constitute the Alliance of Sahelian States (AES) are the next target of Western media and NGO propaganda.
Africans and Africans in the diaspora, and all progressive people across the world, should not take the threat of France to destabilize the Sahelian countries lightly. An attack on Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is an attack on all Africans. The Sahelian revolution is more about the future of Africa and less about the people of Burkina Faso.
Traore is not just leading the revolution in Burkina Faso, but he is carrying the weight of the Black race on his young shoulders. On April 30, thousands of progressive people across the world staged pro-AES demonstrations to warn France and the USA to leave Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger alone.
Resource exploitation
Every year, World Bank and IMF statistics classify Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger as among the poorest countries in the world. The statistics, however, fail to report that the three countries are very rich in mineral resources.
In an address to commemorate the launch of AES in 2023, Captain Traore explained that for 40 years, some Western countries have exploited uranium in Niger to produce power for their countries, while most of Niger remains in perpetual darkness.
He lamented that large tracts of land in the three countries have been riddled with holes as landmarks of mineral exploitation, while the host communities lack motorable roads and water and sanitation.
“That is why we revolted to take the destinies of our countries into our own hands”, he said. According to Captain Traore, after the birth of AES, some African Presidents, whom he described as “armed chair slaves,” attempted to negotiate on behalf of their Western masters for them to return to Ecowas. “They approached us and asked us to fall in line, to become part of the elite that must rule Africa. We refused to fall in line and from then on, they plotted hostilities against us.” According to him, Western-backed mercenaries have infiltrated the three Sahelian countries, “hoping to carry out barbaric attacks on their populations and to incite them to revolt.”
“We came to break the chain of colonial servitude. We will no longer allow colonialism to return, people are awake to fight for our future generations, we will not tremble, we will face it, we will fight for true independence and our freedom”, Captain Traore emphasized.
Above all, Captain Traore stated that the Sahelian countries have decided to take responsibility for themselves. “We will wage a relentless war against everyone who dares to attack our three states, he assured the audience.
Cancer of betrayal
Legendary reggae star, Bob Marley, asked in his song, ‘Redemption Song’, “How long shall they kill our prophets, while we stand aside and look?’
The fact is that any atrocity or coup that France and other Western powers have committed in Africa has always been done with the connivance of Africans or Africans in the diaspora.
From the overthrow of Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Amilcar Cabral, Thomas Sankara, and Muamar Qaddafi, among others, Western powers collaborated with enemies within. So, it is not surprising that typical Africans like General Langley and Alassane Ouattara have become the willing tools being used to attack Burkina Faso and Niger and Mali.
Historically, the Ivory Coast under Félix Houphouët-Boigny obstructed every attempt for continental unity at the behest of Western powers.
Ivory Coast was the only country that had diplomatic relations with Apartheid South Africa, despite a resolution for all African countries to sever diplomatic relations with the repugnant regime. After political independence, Africa’s nagging headache has been betrayal and the enemy within.
The enemy within
After several failed coup attempts, the enemies of Burkina Faso plotted to eliminate Captain Traore through poisoning.
The captain received an invitation to a meeting in a small town near Ouagadougou to plan for a military operation. Before the meeting, Captain Traore received an anonymous note that alerted him of a plot by his military insiders to poison him using a chemical.
The note read, “Watch your tea today, they will test your trust.” Neither did Traore ignore the message, nor did he reject the invitation. He traveled to the base and sat among the top military men he had known for years, but one of them had decided to betray him, like Judas betrayed Jesus Christ.
When it was time for the refreshment, those on the high table with him were served tea. Colonel Konate, an officer known for his sharp brains, quickly took a sip, then looked at Captain Traore and said, “please drink sir, the tea is fresh.”
But Traore did not move, he smiled, then slowly placed the cup under a small table. The air around the place changed, but no enough for an ordinary person to notice. Captain Traore looked at Col Yahaya Konate, who sat close to him and said, “you know I have always trusted people, but how many things can hide inside a cup of tea?” Col Konate, who had sipped his tea, replied, “That is the beauty of tea sir.” Traore replied, “or the danger.”
At that juncture, Traore stood up with his eyes steady on Col Konate and asked, Colonel, do you trust the people who prepared this tea?” Col Konate blinked, “off course”, he replied. “Good” Traore responded. He turned to one of Konate’s aids and asked him to drink the tea in his cup. Konate quickly interjected, “no wait, we don’t want to mix cups, there could be hygiene.” Traore replied, “Hygiene or poison?” Konate responded, “Mr. President, I assure you, “no one here will try to kill you.”
Instantly, Captain Traore moved from the high table and ordered, “Bring him.” Within seconds, two soldiers escorted the tea server, a young soldier in plain clothes, who looked terrified. One of Captain Traore’s bodyguards placed a small pouch on the table.
Inside it was a tiny plastic substance hidden in the server’s socks. The label on it read “VXT-42, a small but powerful neurochemical, enough to kill anyone within seconds of consumption. It had been deposited in the cup that contained Captain Traore’s tea.
The President turned to the other officers and said, “I have led soldiers into real battles, and I have buried brothers in war, but this betrayal inside our own house is worse than any enemy.” He then looked at Col Yahaya Konate and said “ you invited me here, you arranged the tea. It started with tea in a small ceramic cup, the kind that carries respect and silence, but this cup almost carried death”, Captain Traore concluded on a somber note.
From this episode, it is evident that if France and the USA succeed in killing Captain Traore and recolonise Burkina Faso, they will rely on the support of betrayers like Colonel Yahaya Konate and other military officers who have betrayed the revolution. Here lies the cancer of betrayal, which is Africa’s biggest enemy. The likes of General Langley, Alassane Ouattara, Blaise Compaoré and Colonel Konate carry the cancer of betrayal in their blood.
