Recently, during the United Nations General Assembly, Burkina Faso’s Minister of State, Bassolma Bazie, denounced the fact that his country, like Mali and Niger, was involved in the Sahel “in a war dictated by imperialism” under the guise of “fighting terrorism.” He explained that the three countries, with common borders, have established a collective defense and mutual assistance pact, called the Alliance of Sahel States, “to take our destiny into our own hands.”

Bazie emphasized that, “We say no to all those so-called friends who claim to want our supposed well-being or who threaten us with war in order to impose their friendship.” The Burkinabe leader also expressed the opinion that ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations should act for the benefit of the peoples and not be structures controlled by a “global minority.”