Soldiers in Burkina Faso say a military junta now controls the country

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Soldiers in Burkina Faso say a military junta¹ now controls the country

Transcript²

In the latest setback³ for democracy in Africa, a military coup⁴ has removed the democratically elected president of Burkina Faso. There have been recent coups⁵ in the region: Mali, Guinea and Chad.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

At the edge of the Sahara Desert in West Africa is the landlocked country of Burkina Faso. It's a one-time French colony, independent since the 1950s. In recent years, it has suffered protests and coups, but it emerged with a democratically elected leader who was in power until last night, which is when people watching state TV in Burkina Faso saw soldiers come on the screen.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking French).

INSKEEP: The communique said the soldiers were suspending the constitution and taking over. NPR's Eyder Peralta joins us from his base in South Africa. Hey there, Eyder.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE⁶: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: As best you can determine, what happened?

PERALTA: So look; over the weekend, there was a mutiny among some part of the military. And what we know from witnesses is that the soldiers surrounded the home of President Roch Kabore, and for the next two days, the soldiers traded gunfire with other security forces near the president's home. And the government kept saying, this is not a coup, that the military was still under civilian⁷ control, but when the sun went down last night, the coup leaders came on television and said they had taken power. They said they were suspending the constitution and deposing⁸ the president and the Parliament. On the statement that they read, the coup leaders said that they had taken power without bloodshed and that some political leaders were under arrest. That said, we don't know the whereabouts or the condition of President Roch Kabore. All we know is that right before these soldiers came on TV, he sent out a tweet on his official account. He asked for the military to lay down their weapons. He wrote, quote, "we must safeguard our democratic achievements."

INSKEEP: Well, let's talk about that. This is an elected leader. I assume at least at some point he had substantial political support in the country. How are people responding to his apparent deposition⁹?

PERALTA: Yeah. They're celebrating. And, you know, as you said, he was democratically elected in 2015, and he represented change in Burkina Faso. He was the first nonmilitary guy to hold power in decades. But over the past couple of years, the violence in Burkina Faso has escalated¹⁰. It is being led by Islamist insurgents¹¹ who have moved deeper into the country, and they have continually attacked the military and civilians¹². And the people of Burkina Faso blame the president for that, and they got tired of the insecurity, and that's what they've been saying on the streets.

INSKEEP: Is this coup in Burkina Faso part of a trend?

PERALTA: In the recent past, we've seen coups in Mali, in Sudan, Chad, Guinea. I just spoke¹³ to Ryan Cummings, who is a security analyst¹⁴ at Signal Risk, and he had been warning that Burkina Faso was ripe for a coup. And I asked him if coups were contagious¹⁵ here on the African continent, and he said what is happening is that regional bodies and the U.N., for example, have reacted tepidly¹⁶ to past coups. They have tried to deal with them diplomatically, but they have been reticent¹⁷ to take or even threaten any military intervention¹⁸. And Ryan Cummings says that this sends a message to militaries across the continent. Let's listen.

RYAN CUMMINGS: I think that the message it sends to a lot of these militaries, you know, in the presence of weak central governance structures is that seizing power, you know, amid a context where you know there will be popular support for such an unconstitutional power grab is quite a low-risk but high-reward undertaking¹⁹.

PERALTA: Low risk but high rewards. And we should note that so far the reaction from the international community, including the U.S., is to express concern.

INSKEEP: And again, the news here - there's an apparent coup overnight in Burkina Faso. NPR's Eyder Peralta is covering it. Eyder, thanks so much.

PERALTA: Thank you, Steve.

(SOUNDBITE OF NOSAJ THING'S "NIGHTCRAWLER")

1 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

5 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 deposing   

v.罢免( depose的现在分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• Russia's offensive could be aimed at threatening Mr Lukashenka rather than deposing him. 俄罗斯的进攻其目的不在于废黜他的政权，而在于威慑他。 来自互联网
• Jon Arne Riise has stepped back in there, with Arbeloa deposing Finnan on the opposite side. 约翰．阿尔内．里瑟补上了这个位置，还有艾比路亚在另一边取代了芬南。 来自互联网

9 deposition   

n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物

参考例句：

• It was this issue which led to the deposition of the king.正是这件事导致了国王被废黜。
• This leads to calcium deposition in the blood-vessels.这导致钙在血管中沉积。

10 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

11 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

15 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

16 tepidly   

参考例句：

17 reticent   

adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的

参考例句：

• He was reticent about his opinion.他有保留意见。
• He was extremely reticent about his personal life.他对自己的个人生活讳莫如深。

18 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

19 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。