Brazil's pres arrives for talks
2007-10-15 16:54
Ouagadougou - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday began an Africa tour by arriving in Burkina Faso as it marked the 20th anniversary in power of its leader.
Lula flew into Ouagadougou to spend a day in the west African country and meet President Blaise Compaore, who seized power in a bloody coup in October 1987 that killed his predecessor and former comrade-in-arms Thomas Sankara.
While in Burkina Faso, the Brazilian head of state was scheduled to address an international colloquium on democracy and development in Africa that began here on Sunday.
Compaore has brought democracy to the poor landlocked nation, but his regime for many years paid no respect to Captain Sankara, an idealistic Marxist whose murder deeply fractured society in the former French colony.
Sankara was elevated to national hero
However, this year his widow Mariam Sankara arrived on Sunday on her first trip home since the assassination to take part in a commemoration of her husband alongside the anniversary celebrations.
Burkina Faso's authorities in 2005 elevated Sankara to the status of national hero, though there are no monuments to him.
The Brazilian president will on Tuesday fly to Brazzaville for a brief stay in Congo, then Wednesday he is due in South Africa for the second summit of the India-Brasil-South Africa group of nations, set up to promote South-South cooperation as well as ties between their own countries.
Lula will head to Angola on Thursday to wrap up his African tour in one of the former Portuguese colonies across the continent.