Burkina Faso’s military ruler has called on people in his nation to reject democratic rule, telling a state broadcaster, “We must tell the truth, democracy isn’t for us.” Interim President Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a 2022 military coup, toppling another coup regime that overthrew a democratically elected government just eight months earlier. Traoré previously promised democratic elections in 2024, before extending his rule until 2029. Speaking to reporters last week, Traoré said, “Wherever [Western powers] try to establish democracy in the world, it’s always accompanied by bloodshed.” A report from Human Rights Watch accuses Burkina Faso’s military and its allied militias of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity for participating in violence that’s killed more than 1,800 civilians while forcibly displacing tens of thousands.