Our revolution in Burkina Faso sympathizes with the misfortunes of all nations. It is inspired by the fullness of human experience from the first steps of humanity. We want to be the heirs of all the revolutions in the world, of all the liberation movements of the peoples of the Third World. We are in tune with the great shocks that changed the world. We learned from the American Revolution: its victory over colonial rule and the consequences of this victory. We accept the doctrine of non-interference by Europeans in the affairs of Americans, and Americans in the affairs of Europeans. And just as Monroe declared "America for the Americans," we declared "Africa for the Africans," "Burkina for the Burkinians." French Revolution 1789, shaking the foundations of absolutism, taught us human rights and the right of peoples to freedom. The Great October Revolution of 1917 changed the world, bringing victory to the proletariat, shaking the foundations of capitalism and making it possible to fulfill the dream of justice of the Paris Commune.
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (Upper Volta, French West Africa, December 21, 1949-Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, October 15, 1987) was a military captain, communist revolutionary, and pan-Africanist theorist who presided over Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. He is seen as a charismatic and iconic figure of the revolution, for which he is known as the "African Che Guevara".
Biography[]
Sankara took power in 1983, when he was 33 years old, by virtue of a coup d'état supported by large layers of the population. His goal was to eliminate corruption and the hegemonic dominance of French colonial power.To symbolize this new autonomy and rebirth, he went on to rename the country of Upper Volta Burkina Faso "the country of men of integrity."
Sankara's first priorities after taking office were feeding, housing, and providing medical care to her desperately needed people. Sankara launched a mass vaccination program in an attempt to eradicate polio, meningitis, and measles. 6 In one week, 2.5 million Burkinabs were vaccinated, garnering congratulations from the World Health Organization. The Sankara administration was also the first African government to publicly recognize the AIDS epidemic as a major threat to Africa. It also criminalized female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy.
His foreign policy focused in anti-imperialism. During his government he tried to avoid all foreign aid. His national policies focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and agrarian reform, he prioritized education with a national literacy campaign, and he promoted public health with the vaccination of 2.5 millions of children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles.Other components of their national agenda included the planting of more than ten million trees to end the desertification of the environmentally concerned Sahel, denounces human responsibilities in the desert advance. In April 1985, the National Council of the Revolution thus launched the "three struggles": the end of excessive logging and the awareness campaign on the use of gas, the end of forest fires and the end of the movement of animals.

The government is carrying out dam projects, while farmers sometimes build reservoirs. Thomas Sankara also criticizes the lack of aid from France, whose companies, however, mainly benefit from contracts related to major works, the doubling of wheat production due to the redistribution of land from feudal landowners to peasants, the suspension of rural taxes and national income, and the establishment of an ambitious program to build railways and roads to “unite the nation.” In addition, his commitment to women's rights led him to ban genital mutilation feminine, forced marriages and polygamy. Similarly, he appointed women to high government positions and encouraged them to work outside the home and stay in school even if they were pregnant. He also encouraged men to go shopping to empathize with women.

His revolutionary African self-sufficiency programs as a challenging alternative to Western-imposed neoliberal development strategies made him an icon for many of Africa's poor. Sankara is still very popular with most of the poor citizens of their country.
Important to advance the revolution, Tom Sankara, considered a charismatic leader, considered a personal example. The President lived on an Army Captain's salary of $ 450 per month, and a Presidential salary of $ 2000 was transferred to an orphan fund (after the overthrow and murder of Sankara, it turned out that his personal property consisted of an old Peugeot car , bought before coming to power, a refrigerator with a broken freezer, three guitars and four bicycles). One of the first innovations of his government was the publication of the income and accounts of all government officials.

On October 15, 1987, Sankara was assassinated by an armed group with twelve other officials in a coup d'état organized by his former colleague Blaise Compaoré. Explaining his overthrow, Compaoré stated that Sankara endangered foreign relations with the former colonial power of France and neighboring Ivory Coast, and accused his former comrade of conspiring to assassinate his opponents.]]