As Burkina Faso reclaims its gold, Haiti watches its soul sold one parcel at a time.
Global Spotlight | The Haitian Pulse Editorial Team | August 6, 2025
In West Africa, a 36-year-old soldier named Ibrahim Traoré is taking bold steps that echo across continents. As president of Burkina Faso, Traoré has launched a historic campaign to reclaim his country’s wealth from foreign exploitation—stripping Western corporations of their unchecked dominance and placing Burkinabé resources back into Burkinabé hands. In stark contrast, 1,500 miles away in the Caribbean, Haiti is being bled dry by its own so-called "leaders"—a group of sellouts who have quietly mortgaged the nation to foreign and local oligarchs.
Ibrahim Traoré: The Young General Who Said No
Burkina Faso, under Traoré’s transitional government, has launched investigations and arrests targeting foreign mining executives and local collaborators. In one of the most striking actions to date, the junta detained seven executives from major gold operations and seized tons of unreported gold stockpiles. These steps came as part of a broader push to force mining firms to repay hundreds of millions in back taxes, royalties, and revenue owed to the Burkinabé state.
In Mali, similar moves are underway. There, the military government detained executives from Barrick Gold and seized three tons of gold valued at nearly $245 million. Arrest warrants were issued for senior foreign officials, signaling that West African governments are tired of exploitation wrapped in the language of "foreign investment."
Traoré’s vision is clear: Africa will not be the feeding trough for global billionaires while its people suffer from hunger, unemployment, and decay.
"We are not against cooperation," he said, "but our cooperation must not resemble recolonization."
He has backed his words with action: expelling French troops, cutting exploitative ties, detaining corrupt foreign partners, and forging new regional alliances with Mali and Niger through the Alliance of Sahel States. The result? A rising sense of ownership, pride, and political clarity in a region long trapped under the weight of neocolonialism.
Haiti: Where the Soil Is For Sale
Now turn to Haiti—a nation similarly rich in resources but paralyzed by a political class addicted to personal gain. Instead of guarding the nation's future, Haiti's so-called leaders have operated like corrupt brokers, auctioning off land, ports, mineral contracts, and sovereignty for private enrichment.
The list is long: from shady mining concessions in the north, to farmland sold to foreign investors, to contracts that hand over state utilities to private cronies. Haiti is not a nation under occupation—it is a nation under betrayal. The betrayal, however, comes from within.
"If Traoré is giving his people back their gold, Haiti’s elite have been giving the people debt, insecurity, and dependence."
Nine Names, Nine Traitors
While Traoré faces global scrutiny for standing up to Western interests, Haiti’s ruling cartel faces no consequences. These nine names—widely recognized within Haiti's political and business elite—have collaborated in the dismantling of the nation. Land titling schemes, fraudulent public-private partnerships, and outright resource looting have allowed them to grow fat while the masses starve.
They do not serve the Haitian people. They serve foreign embassies, IMF cronies, and the local business mafia. And while Burkina Faso locks up corrupt executives, Haiti promotes them to ministerial posts.
Their crimes are not only economic; they are existential. Every plot of land sold without consent, every contract signed in secrecy, every resource handed over to foreign hands is a blow to Haiti's right to exist as a sovereign nation.
What Justice Looks Like
In Burkina Faso, gold mine executives face arrest and investigation. In Mali, mining officials face warrants and gold seizures. In Niger, similar purges have swept through the ranks of foreign collaborators.
In Haiti, ministers caught in corruption scandals receive diplomatic immunity, cushy exile, or recycled cabinet roles. Traoré has prioritized accountability. Haiti has prioritized impunity.
And the cost is staggering. For Haiti, it means no clean water infrastructure despite abundant rainfall. It means no food security despite fertile land. It means youth migration, gang violence, and a country where every institution is up for sale.
"They privatize our pain and socialize their profits. This is not leadership—this is legalized theft."
The Master-Slave Relationship That Still Exists
Even though we do not support authoritarian models, it is noteworthy to highlight the ongoing master-slave dynamic between Haitian leaders and their political masters in Washington. While leaders in Burkina Faso challenge Western exploitation, Haiti's officials wait for marching orders from the U.S. Embassy.
"They act not as representatives of a sovereign people but as colonial administrators waiting for approval from overseas."
This reality underscores how deeply corrupted the Haitian political psyche has become. Independence is paraded in speeches, but submission is practiced in private.
Haiti Needs Its Traoré Moment
The lesson is not that Traoré is perfect—he governs in an unstable region with limited press freedom. But his stance is clear: Burkina Faso is not for sale. Haiti, however, has yet to produce a leader willing to say those five words.
Until it does, every deal signed by corrupt officials is another nail in the coffin of Haitian sovereignty.
"In Traoré, the people see a shield. In Haiti, the people see a mirror of their own despair."
A Country Dependent on Everything
Haiti is not only dependent politically and economically—it is dependent existentially. A country surrounded by water cannot even produce its own drinking water. Without weather radars or satellites, Haiti must beg other countries for meteorological data just to prepare for storms.
Haiti relies on foreign food, foreign fuel, foreign medicine, and foreign loans. In this context, talking about autonomy becomes absurd. A nation that cannot meet the basic needs of its people cannot claim to be free.
Burkina Faso is reclaiming its gold. Haiti is losing its soul. One country has found the courage to challenge global exploitation. The other has nine devils with golden pens, writing away the future of a nation in exchange for luxury cars, foreign visas, and Swiss bank accounts.
It is time for Haitians to call these traitors by name. To demand their prosecution. And to make it clear that the country is not the private property of its political class.
"Haiti must do more than survive. It must seize its right to live, to own, to control, and to rise."
Comments