BIRDS OF A FEATHER (revisited)

During 15 years of the one-party state Albert Rene, as President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Seychelles, paid five state visits to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), better known as North Korea. In the article below, the same Government-controlled daily newspaper which exists today in Seychelles, the Seychelles Nation, published this glowing tribute to the communist regime of that country after one of Mr. Rene’s visits.

While Nation regurgitated false communist propaganda about the happy life of the people of North Korea, a large segment of that population was actually starving to death in the fields or in prison camps. Over the last few years, the United Nations has reported that hundreds of thousands of peasants have perished through starvation, and North Korea’s capitalist neighbour, South Korea, is helping to feed them.

Since the multiparty system was re-established in Seychelles in 1993 neither Mr. Rene nor current President James Michel has paid a visit to the hermit kingdom.

While the ruling SPPF no longer extol the virtues of the communist system of North Korea, it continues to build fraternal ties with the Communist Party of China (CPC). During the recent National Assembly recess and school holiday, a delegation from the SPPF, including National Assembly members and Central Committee members, were flown to China at the invitation of the CPC. The CPC is the only political party allowed to exist in China, although capitalism is now the preferred economic system.

In North Korea the communist party is called the Peoples’ Workers Party. In Seychelles it is called the Seychelles People’s Progressive Front.

Albert Rene enjoying one of his several visits to the people's paradise of North Korea.