THE BLACK GIRL RAISED BY NORTH KOREAN DICTATOR

For Monica Macias, her childhood was full of luxury and splendor. She is the daughter of the first president of Equatorial Guinea,  Francisco Macías Nguema. He is widely regarded as one of the most brutal dictators of all time.

The first time Monica traveled to North Korea was in 1977 while on a state visit with her parents, older sister Maribel, and brother Fran. In his effort to establish his country’s ties to the communist country, Francisco Macias sought to bolster his country’s freshly declared independence from Spain.

She didn’t anticipate returning to Pyongyang two years later, this time with just her two siblings, and mother. Her father would never be seen by her again.

The family first resided together in a flat in a posh neighborhood, but out of the blue, her mother stated she would be leaving her kids behind and going to Equatorial Guinea. Monica spent the next 15 years of her life in North Korea, forgetting her native languages of Spanish and Fang.

Although she has traveled all over the world, she continues to daydream and think in Korean, which she regards to be her identity.

Macias had given custody of his three youngest children to Kim Il-sung knowing that his life and the lives of his family were in jeopardy from his numerous adversaries.

Teo, his oldest son, had already been transported to Cuba to live as Fidel Castro’s ward. Castro sent Teo home “to the lions’ den” after his nephew Teodoro Obiang overthrew Macias in a coup, placed him on trial, and had him hanged.

Maribel hurried back to protect Teo. Monica struggled to understand why her mother had left her other children behind.

The siblings were all enrolled in the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School outside of Pyongyang, a boarding school for party members’ children who were all fatherless, where Kim’s nephew served as deputy director.

In order to make the Macias sisters more comfortable because it was a boys’ institution, 20 girls were brought in on Kim’s orders.

Although many have attempted to get Monica to criticize both Macias and Kim Il-sung, she has refused. She maintains that Kim Il-sung was her savior and that she was obviously unaware of his violations of human rights.