The 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état was a bloody

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

coup in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, which took place on 15 October 1987. The coup was organized by Captain Blaise Compaoré against incumbent

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President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Captain Thomas Sankara, his former friend and associate during the 1983 upheaval. Compaoré has never acknowledged that a coup had taken place and claims to be a Sankara loyalist.

Events

Sankara was killed by an armed group with twelve other officials, in a gun battle at the presidential palace. Immediately, Compaoré assumed the presidency; he cited deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries as one of the reasons for the coup, and stated that Sankara jeopardised

foreign relations Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

with former colonial power France and neighbouring

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

.Burkina Faso Salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara
by Mathieu Bonkoungou, ''

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'', 17 October 2007.

Aftermath

Following the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs (formed by Sankara, inspired by the CDRs in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

) mounted an armed resistance to the military for several days. Compaoré described the killing of Sankara as an "accident", but the circumstances have never been properly investigated. Sankara's body was dismembered and he was buried in an unmarked grave"Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man"
by ''

California Newsreel California Newsreel is an American non-profit, social justice film distribution and production organization based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1968 as the San Francisco branch of the national filmmaking collective Newsreel. The ...

''. while his widow Mariam and two children fled the nation. The 2015 autopsy had revealed that Sankara's body was "riddled" with "more than a dozen" bullets, as reported by one of the lawyers representing Mariam Sankara. Compaoré introduced a policy of "rectification", immediately reversed the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

s, overturned nearly all of Sankara's

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

and Third Worldist policies, and rejoined the

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and

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to bring in "desperately needed" funds to restore the "shattered"

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

. Initially ruling in a

triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...

under the Popular Front with Major Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani and Captain Henri Zongo, in September 1989 Compaoré had these two arrested, charged with plotting to overthrow the government, summarily tried, and executed. Compaoré went on to rule the country until he was ousted in the

2014 Burkinabé uprising Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an un ...

. In 2025, Sankara and those killed alongside him in the coup were reinterred in a mausoleum built on the site of the Conseil de l’Entente in Ouagadougou.

Liberian involvement

Prince Johnson, a former

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

n warlord allied to Charles Taylor also known for supervising the assassination of president Samuel Doe, told the Liberian

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

that the coup was organized by Taylor.

Events

Aftermath

Liberian involvement

References

See also