Editing François Mitterrand (section)

====1990 speech at La Baule====
Responding to a democratic movement in Africa after the 1989 fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], he made his La Baule speech in June 1990 which tied [[development aid]] to democratic efforts from former French colonies, and during which he opposed the devaluation of the [[CFA Franc]]. Seeing an "East wind" blowing in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, he stated that a "Southern wind" was also blowing in Africa, and that state leaders had to respond to the populations' wishes and aspirations by a "democratic opening", which included a [[representative democracy|representative system]], free elections, [[Multi-party system|multipartyism]], [[freedom of the press]], an independent judiciary, and abolition of censorship. Claiming that France was the country making the most important effort concerning development aid, he announced that the [[Least developed country|least developed countries]] (LDCs) would henceforth receive only grants from France, as opposed to loans (in order to combat the massive increase of [[Third World debt]] during the 1980s). He likewise limited the [[interest rate]] to 5% on French loans to intermediate-income countries (that is, [[Ivory Coast]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]], Cameroon and [[Gabon]]).

He also criticized interventionism in sovereign matters, which was according to him only another form of "[[colonialism]]". However, according to François Mitterrand, this did not imply lessened concern on the part of Paris for its [[French colonial empire|former colonies]]. François Mitterrand thus continued with the African policy of de Gaulle inaugurated in 1960, which followed the relative failure of the 1958 creation of the [[French Community]]. All in all, François Mitterrand's La Baule speech, which marked a relative turning point in France's policy concerning its former colonies, has been compared with the 1956 ''loi-cadre [[Gaston Defferre|Defferre]]'' which was responding to [[anti-colonialist]] feelings.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061117230046/http://helios.univ-reims.fr/Labos/CERI/Mitterrand_et_la_democratie_en_Afrique.htm#UN%20DISCOURS%20DE%20CIRCONSTANCE François Mitterrand et la démocratie en Afrique, huit ans après], by Albert Bourgi, {{ill|Centre de recherches internationales|fr}} (CERI) (mixed study unit with the [[CNRS]], dependent of the ''[[Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques]]'') {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

African heads of state reacted to François Mitterrand's speech at most with indifference. [[Omar Bongo]], President of Gabon, declared that he would rather have "events counsel him;" [[Abdou Diouf]], President of Senegal, said that, according to him, the best solution was a "strong government" and a "good faith opposition;" the President of Chad, [[Hissène Habré]] (nicknamed the "African [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]]") claimed that it was contradictory to demand that African states should simultaneously carry on a "democratic policy" and "social and economic policies which limited their sovereignty", in a clear allusion to the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the [[World Bank]]'s "[[structural adjustment]] programs". [[Hassan II]], the king of Morocco, said for his part that "Africa was too open to the world to remain indifferent to what was happening around it", but that Western countries should "help young democracies open out, without putting a knife under their throat, without a brutal transition to multipartyism."<ref>[http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/B0100_-fiche22sommets.pdf Les 22 premières conférences des chefs d'Etat de France et d'Afrique] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203100948/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/B0100_-fiche22sommets.pdf |date=3 February 2007 }}, on French government website – URL accessed in January 2007 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

All in all, the La Baule speech has been said to be on one hand "one of the foundations of political renewal in Africa French speaking area", and on the other hand "cooperation with France", this despite "incoherence and inconsistency, like any [[public policy]]".<ref>[http://doc-iep.univ-lyon2.fr/Ressources/Documents/Etudiants/Memoires/detail-memoire.html?ID=310 Le discours de la Baule et le pluralisme en Afrique noire francophone. Essai d'analyse d'une contribution à l'instauration de la démocratie dans les états d'Afrique noire d'expression française] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929084136/http://doc-iep.univ-lyon2.fr/Ressources/Documents/Etudiants/Memoires/detail-memoire.html?ID=310 |date=29 September 2007 }}, 1993–94 [[DEA (former French degree)|DEA]] ''mémoire'' of Félix François Lissouck, under the direction of Paul Bacot, held in the [[Institut d'études politiques|Political Studies Institute]] (IEP) of Lyon. {{in lang|fr}}</ref>