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Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,878 sq mi), 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. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 23,674,480. Previously called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
Blaise Compaoré is a Burkinabé-Ivorian former politician who served as the second president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014. He was a close associate of the first president, Thomas Sankara, during the 1980s and in October 1987 he led a coup d'état during which Sankara was killed. Subsequently, he introduced a policy of 'rectification', overturning the leftist and Third Worldist policies pursued by Sankara. He won elections in 1991, 1998, 2005, and 2010, in what were considered unfair circumstances. His attempt to amend the constitution to extend his 27-year term caused the 2014 Burkinabé uprising. On 31 October 2014, Compaoré resigned, whereupon he fled to the Ivory Coast. In April 2022, he was found guilty by a special military tribunal of complicity in Sankara’s murder. He is also the longest-serving president of Burkina Faso.
The Romanian revolution was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revolution started in the city of Timișoara and soon spread throughout the country, ultimately culminating in the drumhead trial and execution of longtime Romanian Communist Party (PCR) General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena, and the end of 42 years of Communist rule in Romania. It was also the last removal of a Marxist–Leninist government in a Warsaw Pact country during the events of 1989, and the only one that violently overthrew a country's leadership and executed its leader; according to estimates, over one thousand people died and thousands more were injured.
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The Tunisian bread riots were a series of violent demonstrations in Tunisia that occurred from December 1983 to January 1984, triggered by a rise in the price of bread due to an IMF-imposed austerity program. President Habib Bourguiba declared a state of emergency and the riots were put down by force. Over 100 rioters died. The regime was weakened by the upheavals and the aftermath of food riots. Three years later General Zine El Abidine Ben Ali seized power in a coup.
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The 2007–2008 Senegalese protests were ongoing opposition protests and civil demonstrations, riots and strikes in Senegal over many issues. One of the main issues were deteriorating economic conditions and food price hikes due to the 2007–2008 world food price crisis. Hundreds attended rallies from January, March and September, before the biggest wave of protests. Demonstrators were met with bullets and tear gas. Water cannon was also shot at demonstrators demanding democratic reforms and justice from the government, yet the resignation of president Abdoulaye Wade. Thousands threw stones on demonstrators in November 2007, after a week-long uprising and bloody crackdown nationwide. Clashes between protesters and security forces, who launched strike action. After protests in December, protests calmed and ceased for 2–3 months until March–April 2008 when tanks was deployed after opposition protests and food riots in Dakar. Four people were killed in the uprising and ensuing clashes. Violent protests rocked the country until 28 April 2008, when two demonstrators were killed in clashes.
The 1990–1992 movement in Madagascar was a strike movement and popular uprising that rocked Madagascar demanding free results of elections, new constitution and shared their dissatisfaction with the government in Madagascar which led to elections and the fall of the government in 1990–1992.
The 1996 Jordanian protests were mass protests and riots in Jordan for 2–4 weeks in August–September against new International Monetary Fund-led reforms, leading to bread-price hikes and despite economic troubles, the government of Prime Minister Abdul Karim Kabariti increased food prices and basic good prices hiked, sparking rioting in Karak and spread to Ma’an, Zarqa, Amman, Madaba and other southern cities, where poverty is high.
References
- ↑ "Burkina Faso: Protests on price rises spread to the capital". RefWorld. 28 February 2008.
- ↑ "Burkina Faso: Protests Spread to Capital". NewYorkTimes. February 29, 2008.
- ↑ "Protest wave reaches Burkina Faso". Afrol News. 15 March 2008.