Vietnam and Algeria shared similarities in the revolutionary struggles for national liberation from the colonial regime. In particular, the Vietnamese people’s Dien Bien Phu Victory was a great source of aspirations and encouragement for the revolution and people of Algeria as well as the national liberation movement of colonial nations as a whole.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 – 2024), Algerian Minister of Mujahideen (War Veterans) and Rights Holders Laid Rebiga granted an interview to VietnamPlus E-newspaper, sharing the significance and similarities in the national liberation movement between the two nations.
Two nations, one common enemy
Reporter: During Algeria's struggle for independence, there were people who were forced by the French army to fight in Indochina, then they left the French army, sided with Vietnam or returned home and joined the forces. Algerian resistance. Can you tell us about the contributions of these people to the fight to liberate Algeria from the French colonialists?
Minister Laid Rebiga: In the beginning, before we answer directly on this topic, let us at least recall the specificity of this year. The year 2024 is a very important year for Algeria and I think it is also important for Vietnam and the Vietnamese people for whom we have a lot of love and appreciation, this year Algeria celebrates the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of the blessed liberation revolution and also the same thing I think it is the seventieth anniversary celebrated during this year for the Vietnamese people for the eternal battle of "Dien Bien Phu", of course there should be a very special relationship between the Vietnamese peoples and the Algerian people on the basis of that common struggle. Those common principles that you share with our Vietnamese brothers in their battle or say their eternal battles against imperialism and against occupation, there are many starting points that unite the two peoples. The Algerian people and the Vietnamese people. I say it was the beginning of a special relationship that brought them together dating back to the stage of the national movement, where there was pioneering work and reference work in our relations with the Vietnamese people, starting from that work within the region of the Commonwealth of Colonial States, which brought together many world leaders and brought together Algerians and Vietnamese, and on top of them, I say from the Algerian side, that founding member who has a history for the Algerian national movement, Sheikh Ali Abdelkader, who met Ho Chi Minh. In their work, many things related to the vision of the movement or carrying out armed action and the need to restore national sovereignty were established within the framework of a participatory approach in which many shared, whether the different colonies of the French occupation or the American occupation.
Reporter: Can you share about the feelings of the Algerian people towards Vietnam during the period when the two countries had a common enemy, the French colonialists? Including the anti-war movement in 1947, when the Algerian people prevented French ships carrying weapons to Vietnam?
Minister Laid Rebiga: As we have already said, relations are special and very distinctive relations between the Vietnamese people and the Algerian people on the basis that they who shared the tribulations and pains in the period of colonialism and occupation, it was necessary to harmonize global efforts in the framework of combating the phenomenon of occupation, there are many Algerian leaders, politicians and military who immortalized many positions towards the Vietnamese struggle, especially "Mohamed Khider" in 1947 for what he mentioned in many of his positions and meetings the need to expose methods The colonialism practiced against the Vietnamese people, this position of one of the leaders of the blessed revolution, and I also say that many of the Algerian youth who were given the force to be recruited to fight in the ranks of the French army against the Vietnamese people. But all these plans failed and did not succeed because Algeria and the youth, especially those who are aware, whether they fled the ranks of the French soldiers to join the Vietnamese revolution, in addition to many of them who followed the example of those events that took place within the framework of forced recruitment against the Algerian youth, immortalized the positions because they conveyed those successive victories to the Vietnamese, especially in the battle of "Dien Bien Phu", they transmitted them to the Algerian people and were used as a base to raise motivation and also to resume and the need to accelerate armed action for the Algerian revolution, these are some of the positions we mention to one of the leaders of the liberation revolution, we mention Mustapha Ben Boulaid and also Karim Belkacem, who were behind the outbreak of the liberation revolution within the framework of coordinated work in Algeria for a group of young people who gathered on those human values that we shared and share with our brothers in Vietnam, these young people whose battle "Dien Bien Phu" was one of the main factors in accelerating armed action in Algeria.
“We are races that do not accept occupation”
Reporter: Speaking of Vietnam's "Dien Bien Phu Victory", in your opinion, what impact did that victory have on Algeria's movement to fight for independence? Just like other African countries are also French colonies?
Minister Laid Rebiga: In this context, we say that many of the values that unite the two countries, especially the values of struggle. The values of struggle on which the two revolutions were based, the Vietnamese revolution and the Algerian revolution, based on those values that we shared, were the cause of influencing the liberation movements in the world, especially in Asia and Africa, the battle of Dien Bien Phu and other battles, in addition to Vietnam for Algeria and the outbreak of the blessed revolution that was preceded by the national and popular resistance, are all values that we share, because I say of a race that does not accept occupation, and the proof of this is that tax. The tax of millions of martyrs was paid in order to restore the national sovereignty of the brotherly Vietnamese people or the Algerian people.
Reporter: In terms of military, what similarities do we have between Algeria and Vietnam in the fight against French colonialism?
Minister Laid Rebiga: I think that the humanitarian premises are what most unite the two brotherly peoples that require man's love for freedom and emancipation and his hatred of occupation and enslavement, and I think that this is what exists more in the two peoples. Therefore, those common values that we defended were the tax that the Vietnamese people paid nearly more than a million dead and millions wounded. As for Algeria, during the period of the war of liberation, one and a half million martyrs and thousands of wounded, displaced and dead. It was launched by those common human values that we share and the principles of freedom on which the leaders of the revolution and the leaders of Vietnam are based and shared.
Reporter: Could you tell us about the love that the Algerian people have for leader Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap of Vietnam?
Minister Laid Rebiga: First of all, I think that Algeria has respect and appreciation for the Vietnamese people, especially for the leaders, led by Ho Chi Minh and General Giap. Ho Chi Minh is a brilliant politician who was able with his skill and will to change a lot of things for the Vietnamese people, he is also the person who defended the oppressed peoples of the world and supported the liberation movements, so the man was a strong man and had an impact on building Vietnam, in addition to the general "Giab" who is known to Algerians and Algeria because he immortalized his famous saying that Algeria is the only country that moved its revolution to the heart of a country The enemy, this saying was preserved by all Algerians from him at the back of the heart. We have great appreciation for Ho Chi Minh, the distinguished politician and General Giap, the man who, through his military acumen, was able to trample the most powerful powers in the world, namely the French and American occupation forces, and he can rightly be called the first to fight imperialism.
Reporter: Thank you very much for your interview!
