Re: Africa
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:16 pm
THOMAS SANKARA: "WE WANT TO BE THE HEIRS OF ALL THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE WORLD"
F. David Arráez Y.
15 Oct 2020 , 12:18 pm .
Thomas Sankara was known as the "African Che Guevara" (Photo: Alain Nogues / Sygma / Corbis)
Small editorial note: we published this article in this rostrum on December 26, 2014. We decided to republish it for two reasons: 1) so that we do not forget who he was and what is the legacy of Thomas Sankara, leader of the revolution in Burkina Faso in the 1980s, whose death is 33 years old today; and 2) because whoever wrote this note about the "African Che Guevara" was a great friend of us, an organic intellectual and a partner in the revolutionary struggle for decades in Venezuela, whose courage we still honor: David Arráez.
This note is just a small tribute, of the many deserved, that can be given to both Sankara and David Arráez. May it serve, then, to remember them both with the honor they have always given.
On December 21, 1949, Thomas Sankara was born in the city of Yako, in the French colony of Upper Volta. Sankara chose a military career and, together with other colleagues, formed a generation of young officers with a political culture superior to their bosses.
With the rank of captain he rebelled on November 7, 1982 against the neo-colonial regime of the West African country of Alto Volta, a rebellion that led Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo to the presidency, and Sankara to serve as Prime Minister until May 1983, when he was dismissed from the Popular Salvation Council on suspicion of subversive activities and clandestine relations with Libya, and was under house arrest.
With the support of a company of paratroopers, he assumed power on August 4, 1983, beginning in the Republic of Alto Volta a profound revolutionary process with the goal of turning the nation into an agriculturally self-sufficient country, with a public health system that privileged primary care - following the postulates of the Alma Ata Conference - dedicated to establishing the parameters of first level public care, an educational system that will defeat the high degree of illiteracy, a frontal fight against corruption, transformation of centuries-old traditions that they turned women into beasts of burden.
Thomas Sankara used to say: "Our revolution is interested in all the oppressed, in all the exploited in today's society. It is therefore interested in women ... The revolution, by changing the social order that oppresses women, creates the conditions of his true emancipation ".
"The women and men of our society are all victims of imperialist oppression and domination, that is why they fight the same battle. The revolution and the liberation of women go together. To speak of the emancipation of women is not an act of charity. or a burst of humanism, is a fundamental requirement for the triumph of the revolution. Women hold the other half of heaven. "
What clarity of thought, what a lesson given to machismo and a certain outdated feminism that does not understand that the struggle is of the oppressed against the oppressor, of the exploited against the exploiter, the class struggle, because the task of emancipation is of women and men together .
Sankara said: "It is necessary to have a fair understanding of the problem of the emancipation of women. It does not mean acquiring habits typical of men such as drinking, smoking, wearing pants ... that is not the emancipation of women ... the true The emancipation of women is what gives them responsibilities that link them to productive activities, to the different battles that the people face ... emancipation, like freedom, is not granted, it is conquered. "
Thomas Sankara wondered if it would be possible to liquidate the system of exploitation while maintaining the exploitation of women, who make up more than half of society. In relation to the armed forces, Sankara's thinking was advanced:
"According to the defense doctrine of the revolutionary High Volta, a conscious people will not cede the defense of their homeland to a group of men, no matter how competent they may be. Conscious peoples assume the defense of their homeland themselves. In effect, Our armed forces constitute just a detachment that is more specialized than the rest of the people for internal and external security tasks in Upper Volta ... The revolution dictates three missions to our national armed forces:
Be ready to fight any internal and external enemy and participate in the military training of the rest of the people.
Participate in national production. Indeed, the new soldier must live and suffer within the people to which he belongs ... he will be in the fields and will raise cows, sheep and birds. It will build schools and dispensaries.
Develop each soldier as a revolutionary militant. Gone are the days when the army was pretended to be neutral and apolitical, while in reality it was a bulwark of reaction and guardian of imperialist interests ... As an army at the service of the revolution, the National People's Army will not accommodate no military man who despises, vilifies and mistreats his people. It will be an army of the people at the service of the people ... Military officers must respect their men, love them and treat them fairly. "
Thomas Sankara promoted an independent, self-sufficient and planned national economy, at the service of a democratic and popular society, for which he required:
An agrarian reform
An administrative reform
An educational reform
A reform of the production and distribution structures
Make agriculture the fulcrum of industrial development
Food self-sufficiency
Sankara had a keen perception of the vacillations of the petty bourgeoisie and stated: "The middle bourgeoisie, this section of the Voltaic bourgeoisie, although linked to imperialism, rivals it for control of the market. However, since it is economically more weak, it is marginalized by imperialism. Therefore, it has complaints against imperialism, but it fears the people and this fear may induce it to form a bloc with imperialism. However, due to the fact that the imperialist domination of our country prevents it from carrying out Its true role as a national bourgeoisie, some of its elements, under certain circumstances, could be in favor of the revolution, which would objectively place them in the field of the people.Among the people a revolutionary distrust must be cultivated towards those elements that gravitate towards the revolution, because in order to cover themselves they will turn to all kinds of opportunists revolution. "
Sankara cambió el nombre de República de Alto Volta por Burkina Faso ("Tierra del hombre íntegro").
Vincent Ouattara, an intellectual from Burkina Faso, says in a book of his authorship: "The revolution established a development model driven fundamentally from within. It was above all about teaching the population to be masters of their destiny, to appreciate their values, to develop their capacity for reflection and creation, to put aside the frustrated mentality that leads to laziness, conformism, which makes men consumers of models and theories of development not assumed, inappropriate ... It is necessary to highlight that with the revolution , Thomas Sankara and his colleagues restored trust to desperate populations, forgotten by national elites ... In short, they established three types of trust: trust in the management of the public good,the confidence towards the leaders and the confidence in themselves and in their ability to achieve the objectives linked to national emancipation ... ". Sankara said that living as Africans is the only way to live free and to live with dignity. He was based on that maxim its political program.
At the international level, Sankara stood out for the respect for the self-determination of the peoples and the deep sense of solidarity, the moral support, and if necessary even material, to the peoples who are fighting for their emancipation. He supported the struggle of the Sahrawi people, the Palestinian people, the people of Namibia.
Its principles regarding international relations were reciprocal respect for independence, territorial integrity, national sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, and trade with all countries based on equality.
Thomas Sankara always remembered that the Burkinabé revolutionary model is inexorable, each people must make their own revolution, think globally and act locally.
His speech at the opening of the exhibition in honor of Che Guevara ended with the following words: "Every time we think about Che, let us try to be like him and make the man, the combatant, and, above all, come to life again. that we have the idea of acting like him, let us think of self-denial, rejecting the bourgeois goods that seek to alienate us, while also rejecting comforts; let us not forget education and the rigorous discipline of revolutionary ethics: every time we try to act like this we will serve better to Che's ideas, we will spread them better. "
En sus afirmaciones Thomas Sankara asumía la herencia de las revoluciones mundiales: "Nuestra revolución en Burkina Faso se inspira en todas las experiencias de los hombres, desde el primer aliento de la humanidad. Queremos ser los herederos de todas las revoluciones del mundo, de todas las luchas de liberación de los pueblos del Tercer Mundo. Sacamos lecciones de la Revolución Americana, la Revolución Francesa nos enseñó los derechos del hombre, la gran Revolución de Octubre permitió la victoria del proletariado e hizo posible los sueños de La Comuna de París".
On October 15, 1987 Sankara was assassinated by henchmen of his old friend and colleague Blaise Compaoré, who assumed the presidency and backed down from the conquests achieved in the four years of Tom Sank's administration, as his people called him. Compaoré has since been a faithful ally of France and has followed the prescriptions of the IMF and the World Bank.
A week before his assassination, Sankara had said: "Revolutionaries, as individuals, can be killed, but ideas are not killed."
Thomas Sankara has become a symbol for millions of African workers, peasants and youth, and sooner rather than later, we believe, the Burkinabe people will rebel and will retake the path of that profound African revolutionary martyr who only wished, in his own words, "May the image of a man who has led a useful life for all be preserved from me."
Honor and glory to that revolutionary whose example will live forever in the peoples of Africa and the world.
On October 30, 2014, a popular rebellion broke out in Burkina Faso. The felon Compaoré, in despair, delegated the government to General Honoré Traoré, who imposed a night curfew that was disobeyed by the people in rebellion, concentrating on the "Plaza de la Revolución" or Plaza de la Nación.
The people continued to mobilize and popular pressure forced Compaoré to resign and take refuge in the city of Yamoussoukro, capital of the Ivory Coast. Faced with this fact, the rebel people came out to celebrate their triumph; However, Traoré - a close collaborator of the overthrown felon - was still at the head of the government, which apparently produced a clash for power between him and the head of the presidential guard, General Zida, but the truth was that popular mobilizations also threw Traoré.
After Zida proclaimed himself head of government, the people took to the streets to protest against the military leaders. In response, the presidential guard opened fire on the concentration. The parties and groups of society that opposed the military regime met and declared that the transition should be civil and democratic and not kidnapped by the military leaders.
The following Sunday thousands of people took to the streets to protest the kidnapping of the military of the popular revolution, expressing slogans such as "Zida is Judas!" However, the mobilization was losing vigor and this, in our opinion, has a reason: the lack of a homogeneous and solidly united political leadership with a clear purpose.
The most radical group and spearhead of this popular rebellion is Le Balai Citoyen (The Citizens' Broom) led by rapper Smokey and a reggae musician, Sams'K Le Jah. Reactionary groups such as "People for Progress" made up of members of the party of the asylee traitor also sneaked into these protests.
As the protests in the street subsided, the group Le Balai Citoyen announced its support for General Zida, this demoralized the people. Here the powers that see Africa as a territory that belongs to them come to play. France and the US intervene through their diplomatic channels and their power of blackmail to convince the military to appoint a civilian government.
The State Department declares and condemns the military takeover and describes it as a coup. The African Union supports this statement, as expected.
This is how things are. For now, a lackey "civil government" has been imposed, headed by diplomat Michel Kafando, who will convene presidential elections within a year, but there is a rebellious people that demonstrated their power in five days, but due to lack of political leadership cohesive and clear, it could not impose its just aspirations and vindicate the legacy of the great Thomas Sankara.
We all admire the sobriety and humility with which our Pepe Mujica lives, we also remember that Tom Sank decided to use a Renault 5 as a presidential vehicle, the most economical model in Burkina Faso. When he was murdered, he only left as property a humble house with a mortgage not yet paid; he did not accept the salary of president, but that his salary remained that of captain of the army.
https://misionverdad.com/memoria/thomas ... -del-mundo
Google Translator
F. David Arráez Y.
15 Oct 2020 , 12:18 pm .
Thomas Sankara was known as the "African Che Guevara" (Photo: Alain Nogues / Sygma / Corbis)
Small editorial note: we published this article in this rostrum on December 26, 2014. We decided to republish it for two reasons: 1) so that we do not forget who he was and what is the legacy of Thomas Sankara, leader of the revolution in Burkina Faso in the 1980s, whose death is 33 years old today; and 2) because whoever wrote this note about the "African Che Guevara" was a great friend of us, an organic intellectual and a partner in the revolutionary struggle for decades in Venezuela, whose courage we still honor: David Arráez.
This note is just a small tribute, of the many deserved, that can be given to both Sankara and David Arráez. May it serve, then, to remember them both with the honor they have always given.
On December 21, 1949, Thomas Sankara was born in the city of Yako, in the French colony of Upper Volta. Sankara chose a military career and, together with other colleagues, formed a generation of young officers with a political culture superior to their bosses.
With the rank of captain he rebelled on November 7, 1982 against the neo-colonial regime of the West African country of Alto Volta, a rebellion that led Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo to the presidency, and Sankara to serve as Prime Minister until May 1983, when he was dismissed from the Popular Salvation Council on suspicion of subversive activities and clandestine relations with Libya, and was under house arrest.
With the support of a company of paratroopers, he assumed power on August 4, 1983, beginning in the Republic of Alto Volta a profound revolutionary process with the goal of turning the nation into an agriculturally self-sufficient country, with a public health system that privileged primary care - following the postulates of the Alma Ata Conference - dedicated to establishing the parameters of first level public care, an educational system that will defeat the high degree of illiteracy, a frontal fight against corruption, transformation of centuries-old traditions that they turned women into beasts of burden.
Thomas Sankara used to say: "Our revolution is interested in all the oppressed, in all the exploited in today's society. It is therefore interested in women ... The revolution, by changing the social order that oppresses women, creates the conditions of his true emancipation ".
"The women and men of our society are all victims of imperialist oppression and domination, that is why they fight the same battle. The revolution and the liberation of women go together. To speak of the emancipation of women is not an act of charity. or a burst of humanism, is a fundamental requirement for the triumph of the revolution. Women hold the other half of heaven. "
What clarity of thought, what a lesson given to machismo and a certain outdated feminism that does not understand that the struggle is of the oppressed against the oppressor, of the exploited against the exploiter, the class struggle, because the task of emancipation is of women and men together .
Sankara said: "It is necessary to have a fair understanding of the problem of the emancipation of women. It does not mean acquiring habits typical of men such as drinking, smoking, wearing pants ... that is not the emancipation of women ... the true The emancipation of women is what gives them responsibilities that link them to productive activities, to the different battles that the people face ... emancipation, like freedom, is not granted, it is conquered. "
Thomas Sankara wondered if it would be possible to liquidate the system of exploitation while maintaining the exploitation of women, who make up more than half of society. In relation to the armed forces, Sankara's thinking was advanced:
"According to the defense doctrine of the revolutionary High Volta, a conscious people will not cede the defense of their homeland to a group of men, no matter how competent they may be. Conscious peoples assume the defense of their homeland themselves. In effect, Our armed forces constitute just a detachment that is more specialized than the rest of the people for internal and external security tasks in Upper Volta ... The revolution dictates three missions to our national armed forces:
Be ready to fight any internal and external enemy and participate in the military training of the rest of the people.
Participate in national production. Indeed, the new soldier must live and suffer within the people to which he belongs ... he will be in the fields and will raise cows, sheep and birds. It will build schools and dispensaries.
Develop each soldier as a revolutionary militant. Gone are the days when the army was pretended to be neutral and apolitical, while in reality it was a bulwark of reaction and guardian of imperialist interests ... As an army at the service of the revolution, the National People's Army will not accommodate no military man who despises, vilifies and mistreats his people. It will be an army of the people at the service of the people ... Military officers must respect their men, love them and treat them fairly. "
Thomas Sankara promoted an independent, self-sufficient and planned national economy, at the service of a democratic and popular society, for which he required:
An agrarian reform
An administrative reform
An educational reform
A reform of the production and distribution structures
Make agriculture the fulcrum of industrial development
Food self-sufficiency
Sankara had a keen perception of the vacillations of the petty bourgeoisie and stated: "The middle bourgeoisie, this section of the Voltaic bourgeoisie, although linked to imperialism, rivals it for control of the market. However, since it is economically more weak, it is marginalized by imperialism. Therefore, it has complaints against imperialism, but it fears the people and this fear may induce it to form a bloc with imperialism. However, due to the fact that the imperialist domination of our country prevents it from carrying out Its true role as a national bourgeoisie, some of its elements, under certain circumstances, could be in favor of the revolution, which would objectively place them in the field of the people.Among the people a revolutionary distrust must be cultivated towards those elements that gravitate towards the revolution, because in order to cover themselves they will turn to all kinds of opportunists revolution. "
Sankara cambió el nombre de República de Alto Volta por Burkina Faso ("Tierra del hombre íntegro").
Vincent Ouattara, an intellectual from Burkina Faso, says in a book of his authorship: "The revolution established a development model driven fundamentally from within. It was above all about teaching the population to be masters of their destiny, to appreciate their values, to develop their capacity for reflection and creation, to put aside the frustrated mentality that leads to laziness, conformism, which makes men consumers of models and theories of development not assumed, inappropriate ... It is necessary to highlight that with the revolution , Thomas Sankara and his colleagues restored trust to desperate populations, forgotten by national elites ... In short, they established three types of trust: trust in the management of the public good,the confidence towards the leaders and the confidence in themselves and in their ability to achieve the objectives linked to national emancipation ... ". Sankara said that living as Africans is the only way to live free and to live with dignity. He was based on that maxim its political program.
At the international level, Sankara stood out for the respect for the self-determination of the peoples and the deep sense of solidarity, the moral support, and if necessary even material, to the peoples who are fighting for their emancipation. He supported the struggle of the Sahrawi people, the Palestinian people, the people of Namibia.
Its principles regarding international relations were reciprocal respect for independence, territorial integrity, national sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, and trade with all countries based on equality.
Thomas Sankara always remembered that the Burkinabé revolutionary model is inexorable, each people must make their own revolution, think globally and act locally.
His speech at the opening of the exhibition in honor of Che Guevara ended with the following words: "Every time we think about Che, let us try to be like him and make the man, the combatant, and, above all, come to life again. that we have the idea of acting like him, let us think of self-denial, rejecting the bourgeois goods that seek to alienate us, while also rejecting comforts; let us not forget education and the rigorous discipline of revolutionary ethics: every time we try to act like this we will serve better to Che's ideas, we will spread them better. "
En sus afirmaciones Thomas Sankara asumía la herencia de las revoluciones mundiales: "Nuestra revolución en Burkina Faso se inspira en todas las experiencias de los hombres, desde el primer aliento de la humanidad. Queremos ser los herederos de todas las revoluciones del mundo, de todas las luchas de liberación de los pueblos del Tercer Mundo. Sacamos lecciones de la Revolución Americana, la Revolución Francesa nos enseñó los derechos del hombre, la gran Revolución de Octubre permitió la victoria del proletariado e hizo posible los sueños de La Comuna de París".
On October 15, 1987 Sankara was assassinated by henchmen of his old friend and colleague Blaise Compaoré, who assumed the presidency and backed down from the conquests achieved in the four years of Tom Sank's administration, as his people called him. Compaoré has since been a faithful ally of France and has followed the prescriptions of the IMF and the World Bank.
A week before his assassination, Sankara had said: "Revolutionaries, as individuals, can be killed, but ideas are not killed."
Thomas Sankara has become a symbol for millions of African workers, peasants and youth, and sooner rather than later, we believe, the Burkinabe people will rebel and will retake the path of that profound African revolutionary martyr who only wished, in his own words, "May the image of a man who has led a useful life for all be preserved from me."
Honor and glory to that revolutionary whose example will live forever in the peoples of Africa and the world.
On October 30, 2014, a popular rebellion broke out in Burkina Faso. The felon Compaoré, in despair, delegated the government to General Honoré Traoré, who imposed a night curfew that was disobeyed by the people in rebellion, concentrating on the "Plaza de la Revolución" or Plaza de la Nación.
The people continued to mobilize and popular pressure forced Compaoré to resign and take refuge in the city of Yamoussoukro, capital of the Ivory Coast. Faced with this fact, the rebel people came out to celebrate their triumph; However, Traoré - a close collaborator of the overthrown felon - was still at the head of the government, which apparently produced a clash for power between him and the head of the presidential guard, General Zida, but the truth was that popular mobilizations also threw Traoré.
After Zida proclaimed himself head of government, the people took to the streets to protest against the military leaders. In response, the presidential guard opened fire on the concentration. The parties and groups of society that opposed the military regime met and declared that the transition should be civil and democratic and not kidnapped by the military leaders.
The following Sunday thousands of people took to the streets to protest the kidnapping of the military of the popular revolution, expressing slogans such as "Zida is Judas!" However, the mobilization was losing vigor and this, in our opinion, has a reason: the lack of a homogeneous and solidly united political leadership with a clear purpose.
The most radical group and spearhead of this popular rebellion is Le Balai Citoyen (The Citizens' Broom) led by rapper Smokey and a reggae musician, Sams'K Le Jah. Reactionary groups such as "People for Progress" made up of members of the party of the asylee traitor also sneaked into these protests.
As the protests in the street subsided, the group Le Balai Citoyen announced its support for General Zida, this demoralized the people. Here the powers that see Africa as a territory that belongs to them come to play. France and the US intervene through their diplomatic channels and their power of blackmail to convince the military to appoint a civilian government.
The State Department declares and condemns the military takeover and describes it as a coup. The African Union supports this statement, as expected.
This is how things are. For now, a lackey "civil government" has been imposed, headed by diplomat Michel Kafando, who will convene presidential elections within a year, but there is a rebellious people that demonstrated their power in five days, but due to lack of political leadership cohesive and clear, it could not impose its just aspirations and vindicate the legacy of the great Thomas Sankara.
We all admire the sobriety and humility with which our Pepe Mujica lives, we also remember that Tom Sank decided to use a Renault 5 as a presidential vehicle, the most economical model in Burkina Faso. When he was murdered, he only left as property a humble house with a mortgage not yet paid; he did not accept the salary of president, but that his salary remained that of captain of the army.
https://misionverdad.com/memoria/thomas ... -del-mundo
Google Translator