Burkina Faso: US Military Increases Support for Captain Traoré

10-05-2025: During a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on April 3, General Michael Langley, commander of AFRICOM (US Africa Command), essentially accused Burkina Faso’s President Captain Ibrahim Traoré of corruption. He claimed that Traoré was misusing the country’s substantial gold reserves to protect his government rather than benefitting the nation’s 23 million citizens.[1] His comments, made without reference to a shred of evidence, were part of a broader discussion on US attempts to counter Russian and Chinese influence in Africa – but they triggered outrage across the continent and internationally. The statement backfired and only served to increase support for Traoré and the project of restoring sovereignty to Burkina Faso, the Sahel region, and Africa as a whole. Burkina Faso was formerly a French colony known as Upper Volta until its nominal independence in 1960 and changed its name in 1984 under then President Thomas Sankara.[2]

April 30 demonstrations

On April 30, demonstrations broke out in the Burkinabe capital of Ouagadougou, and also in Ghana and Liberia, under the unified call of “Hands Off the AES!” The AES is the Alliance of Sahel States, which has been formed between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in order to enhance regional co-operation in security, economic development and natural resource management.[3] The AES effectively forms a political bloc which stands against Western colonial domination in West Africa. The Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG) released a statement linking the threats against Traoré to the history of imperialist attacks and assassinations of pro-independence and anti-colonial African leaders such as Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Amilcar Cabral and Thomas Sankara.[4] At the rally in the Place de la Revolution in Ouagadougou, some held banners with a photo of US General Langley with the word “slave” written on his head with a red marker.[5]

There have been multiple coup attempts against Traoré, instigated by the deep states of the West. There was a September 2023 coup attempt which was thwarted by Burkinabe intelligence, and a January 2024 plot to bomb Traoré’s residence. Most recently, on April 16 this year, the Burkina Faso military government announced it had foiled a plot to overthrow Captain Traoré, with the army alleging the plotters were based in neighbouring Ivory Coast.[6] It is not difficult to see why imperialism is trying to dismantle what is happening in Burkina Faso. Traoré is the world’s youngest head of state at the age of 37. He assumed power in a popularly supported coup in September 2022, in the context of years of battles against Western backed terrorist militias which pledge allegiance to Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda. The armed cutthroats control an estimated 40% of Burkina Faso.[7] The Burkinabe military, led by Traoré, have been waging a battle with the violent Al Qaeda operatives for years. It is an open secret that the terrorist groups are ultimately armed and funded by Washington in another proxy conflict aimed at blocking or slowing Russian and Chinese assistance to African nations.

Progressive moves towards true independence

Almost every move of Traoré is a progressive step forward. Traoré expelled French troops from the country, backed by popular demonstrations with this demand.[8] Traoré has pushed for economic sovereignty and autonomy for Burkina Faso. He renegotiated mining contracts with foreign corporations, demanding greater percentages of ore extracted and the favouring of local workforces. He prioritised local processing in sectors such as agriculture and cotton. He established two tomato processing plants. Upon assuming the presidency, he announced that he would continue to live on his army captain’s salary.[9] In December 2024, Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo received 44 gold bars on behalf of President Traoré from the Essakane mine.[10] The gold bars were produced from leftover materials after gold extraction, and were taken into possession by the Ministry of Economy – instead of being taken out of the country to be processed abroad.

In another move reinforcing the move away from the West, in January this year all AES states withdrew from the imperialist backed ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States).[11] After another popularly supported coup in neighbouring Niger in 2023, the then fifteen member ECOWAS threatened to invade the country to restore the overthrown pro-Western government. Burkina Faso and Mali pledged to defend Niger if this came about, but ECOWAS backed down.[12] ECOWAS was patently acting on behalf of the US and France, as Niger was until then the last ally of France in Africa. But with the tide turning against them, imperialism calculated that a proxy ECOWAS invasion of Niger would be too costly. It retains a strategy of orchestrating terrorist violence while denying responsibility.

The socialistic People’s Republic of China (PRC) has extensive ties to Burkina Faso, which are mainly to do with trade to secure natural resources and minerals. It has also been involved with some security arrangements in order to protect these investments, such as donations to the G5 Sahel Joint Force. Further to the east, PRC oil investments in Chad have led to the Chadian armed forces being among the best equipped in Africa.[13] In May last year, it was confirmed that the PRC’s Export-Import Bank of China committed a 49 million dollar loan for Burkina Faso’s Donsin Airport Solar Power Plant, which will be equipped with a battery storage system. It is expected that this will stabilise energy security at the airport while increasing the country’s generation capacity.[14] This is significant, as currently less than six million of Burkinabe citizens (out of 23 million) have access to electricity.

Russian assistance

Ibrahim Traoré caused a storm at the Russia-Africa Summit in July 2023, when he denounced neo-colonialism and implored fellow African leaders to stop defending Western puppets. In a fiery speech, Traoré lashed at Western imperialist powers for looting the continent’s natural resources while condemning many Africans to poverty and hardship. He also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was chairing the Summit, for helping the African continent.[15] Ties with the Russian Federation have deepened since then. In February last year, Russia and Burkina Faso struck a deal which resulted in 25 000 metric tons of free wheat, an agreement to build a nuclear power plant, and a personal security detail of 100 paramilitary fighters to protect Traoré from terrorist attacks.[16] These fighters are from the Africa Corps, which is part of the repackaged Wagner Group. The Wagner Group had been assisting the Burkinabe military in combatting the terrorist onslaught by the Western backed Al Qaeda and IS mercenaries. At the 2024 Russia-Africa Summit, Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore made the statement that Russia was a more suitable partner than its historic ties to France, but there was “no fear” of becoming militarily dependent on Moscow.[17]

There is no doubt that President Traoré is demonstrating immense bravery and pioneering leadership and is indeed following in the footsteps of his forbears such as Thomas Sankara. Africans across the AES who are risking their lives defending their land against horrific violence from Western backed Al Qaeda barbarians deserve special mention also. Yet is it also clear that what has enabled the AES to come into being is the military assistance from the Russian Federation, combined with Russia’s role in combatting and defeating the NATO led proxy war via Nazi battalions in Ukraine. African nations, who fought for their independence from Western colonialism, largely achieved political independence in the second half of the 20^th century. Yet they did not win economic independence and remained subjugated by the Western financial institutions. Today, they see Russia smiting imperialism in Ukraine, and the enormous economic rise of the PRC which is on the cusp of surpassing a Western led capitalism in stark decline and severe crisis. They can see that the time to finally escape the clutches of the old colonial empire has arrived, as long as they work together with the side which is rising.

In addition, the non-imperialist BRICS bloc is going from strength to strength and has the support of almost the entire Global South. BRICS now contains 10 members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia) and 9 partner nations (Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan).[18] Workers internationally should recognise the significance of this huge development, which is one outcome of the decline of capitalist imperialism centred in the West. The political task of forging Marxist vanguard parties anchored with the theory of Permanent Revolution remains, in Africa and internationally. However, the vitally needed leap towards a new world must today traverse through formations such as the BRICS alliance, the Alliance of Sahel States and other states and nations that are grasping the opportunity for economic development and the avoidance of disastrous wars, to say nothing of the need to dispense with Western backed terrorism. Humanity must now travel with the BRICS towards economic development, and with the working class towards socialism.

Workers League

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[1] www.ghana.dubawa.org/explainer-u-s-general-langleys-comments-on-burkina-fasos-traore-social-media-uproar/ (07-05-2025)

[2] www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/when-did-burkina-faso-gain-independence-from-france/ (07-05-2025)

[3] www.apanews.net/burkina-faso-ratifies-confederation-of-sahel-states-treaty/ (07-05-2025)

[4] www.peoplesdispatch.org/2025/04/30/hands-off-aes-solidarity-protests-sweep-west-africa-in-defense-of-burkina-faso-and-captain-traore/ (07-05-2025)

[5] www.apnews.com/article/burkina-faso-protest-ibrahim-traore-coup-attempt-langley-9c2b167d2516c1fcbe5a3acd558bcc9f (07-05-2025)

[6] www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ygxzpkvzno (07-05-2025)

[7] www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2023/11/28/burkina-faso-jihadist-conflict-worsens-military-junta-war (07-05-2025)

[8] www.africanews.com/2023/01/24/burkina-faso-to-expell-french-troops/ (07-05-2025)

[9] www.blackagendareport.com/useunatos-regime-change-playbook-burkina-faso-and-captain-ibrahim-traore (07-05-2025)

[10] www.westafricaweekly.com/burkina-faso-receives-first-44-gold-bars-weighing-93kg-from-processing-mining-wastes/ (07-05-2025)

[11] www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yvd91j72eo (07-05-2025)