Leonardo Neher nominated to be the United States Ambassador to Upper Volta by President Ronald Reagan while he was a resident in Maryland. He remained in that post until August 1, 1987, where he was succeeded by David H. Shinn. His foreign languages are Spanish and French. Neher died on May 11, 2015. Leonardo Neher Leonardo Neher (December 5, 1922 – May 11, 2015) was an American diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso from 1984 to 1987 (then the Republic of Upper Volta). Neher was born on December 5, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Akron University from
Thomas Sankara and the Burkinabe Women's Liberation Movement control, Upper Volta won its independence in 1960 and changed its name to the Republic of Upper Volta. After the French military left, the leaders of the revolution created a bureaucracy that did not involve civilian control. The bureaucracy also welcomed foreign investments from France and other colonial powers, thus making the Republic of Upper Volta a neocolonial state. The people of the Republic of Upper Volta consisted of many rival ethnicities. Sixty percent of the country was made up of Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, Mande, and Fulani people. Forty percent of the country were Mossi people, most of the