In Burkina Faso, authorities have charged exiled former President Blaise Compaoré with the murder of Thomas Sankara, who was killed in a 1987 coup. Sankara was a revered leader, an anti-colonialist Marxist who enacted popular social programs and was dubbed the “African Che Guevara.” Compaoré succeeded Sankara, his one-time close friend, and was eventually ousted decades later in a popular uprising in 2014. He will be tried in absentia.
Topics: