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Burkina Faso News

NYT > Burkina Faso Updated: May 10, 2011 Burkina Faso is a country of 15 million people just below the Sahara. It was one of the world’s poorest countries when its president, Blaise Compaoré, seized power in 1987, and it remains so today, with a per capita income that is less than half the African average. It is largely illiterate — only 26 percent can read and write — and in the absence of a large, educated middle class to help form a broadly popular opposition, Mr. Compaoré has been regularly re-elected with over 80 percent of the vote. A whiff of North African-style protest came to the nation’s sun-baked capital, Ouagadougou, in the spring of 2011. Students, soldiers, shopkeepers, police officers and even members of the presidential guard all took part in protests, sometimes violently. A suspicious death in police custody prompted a march by students; stores were looted by military men disgruntled over low pay; and angry merchants, in retaliation, attacked government buildings — all a shock in a landlocked country with few resources and mostly bypassed by an outside world focused on places with oil and crops. The ruler was shaken: he has dismissed his government, named a former journalist as his new prime minister and met with army officers to promise better pay. But while there have been opposition demands for the departure of President Compaoré after 24 years in office, he is not leaving, just as he would not after similar but less serious outbreaks in 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008, when government buildings were also defaced. The heterogeneous nature of the protest’s organizers, including politicians from several dozen different parties, points to the central problem of the opposition, in the view of analysts: it is deeply divided after years of Mr. Compaoré’s rule. 07/03/2011 08:00 AM An African Adventure, and a Revelation An American student and a teacher discover that economies are growing, more girls are in school and gains are being made in nutrition. 06/14/2011 08:00 AM Meningococcal Vaccine Is a Success in West Africa This year there have been only four confirmed cases of meningitis A in Burkina Faso, the first country to offer the shot to all citizens under 30. 05/10/2011 08:00 AM In Burkina Faso, Leader Keeps Cool Under Fire How President Blaise Compaoré has lasted is a lesson for autocrats. 05/01/2011 08:00 AM Burkina Faso Protesters Demand President’s Ouster Politicians from many of the country’s 34 opposition parties joined pop stars to demand that President Blaise Compaoré leave office. 04/29/2011 08:00 AM Burkina Faso Police Join Revolt Police officers in Burkina Faso joined a growing wave of popular unrest Thursday, firing their weapons in the air as discontent over the rule of President Blaise Compaoré spreads. 04/16/2011 08:00 AM President Blaise Compaore Dissolves Burkina Faso Government President Blaise Compaore dismissed his cabinet, his army chief and the head of his security regiment. 08/03/2010 08:00 AM Africa: In a Meningitis Hotbed, a New Vaccine at a Price Governments Can Afford In the worst times of Africa’s “meningitis belt,” the disease has killed more than 25,000 people and left thousands more deaf or retarded. 03/03/2010 08:00 AM 85 Euros and a Bicycle A priest from Burkina Faso inspired a Breton woman to set up an NGO to aid the girls of his village. 01/14/2010 08:00 AM Guinea's Ruler Surfaces Capt Moussa Dadis Camara, leader of Guinea's junta who has been getting medical treatment in Morocco, travels to Burkina Faso for continued care 10/08/2008 08:00 AM In Burkina Faso, Rebellion Stirs In “Delwende” the African filmmaker S. Pierre Yameogo tackles social injustice in present-day Burkina Faso with grace, economy and exquisitely controlled anger. 07/13/2008 08:00 AM Warning: Habits May Be Good for You Social scientists have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through relentless advertising. 06/20/2008 08:00 AM South Africa Snubs U.S. Effort to Condemn Mugabe South Africa sent a low-level representative to a discussion on Zimbabwe led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Burkina Faso at Wikipedia Burkina Faso at CIA FactBook

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