Visiting Burkina Faso, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the representative of France Insoumise, visited the site of the Thomas Sankara Memorial on Sunday afternoon, 18 July.
as reported from Ouagadougou, Yaya Boudani
Jean-Luc Mélenchon placed a bunch of flowers at the foot of the giant statue of Captain Thomas Sankara, he bowed in front of the building where he was murdered on October 15, 1987 and planted a tree at the memorial site.
In front of the journalists, the rebellious deputy for France gave a very “Sankaristic” speech. The struggle against colonialism, imperialism, desertification or food security, all themes that were dear to the discussion of the Burkinabè revolution. Jean-Luc Mélenchon specified that he did not come as a teacher for Burkina Faso, but was inspired by the Sankarist discourse and to share experiences with those who still strive for the ideals of the former Burkinabè president.
At the memorial site, Jean-Luc Mélenchon also recalled his connection to the values advocated by the father of the Burkinabe Revolution: the refusal to resign. For the French deputy, it is time to write a new page about the relations between his country and its former colonies. “We have come to learn because we know the extraordinary personality of Thomas sankara and its main political indications, he said. At the same time, I can say that I represent this France, which does not identify with imperialism, which does not want colonialism, which regrets paternalism and which hates injustice for an unpunished crime. “
A visit welcomed by Luc Damiba, Secretary General of the Thomas Sankara Memorial Committee. He took the opportunity to ask deputies from rebellious France to request the repatriation of the rest of the French archives on the Thomas Sankara affair. France’s archives on the Thomas Sankara case have not been exhausted. We asked him to keep asking that France continue to supply archives that are still kept there because it can still protect people who are still alive. However, we want the whole truth and France can help us get it “.
On Wednesday, Jean-Luc Melenchon will meet with students at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University to reject what would be the main lines of his foreign policy if he is elected in the next presidential election.
► Read also: Burkina Faso: Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the footsteps of Sankara and Macron
.
