Tucked away in North Korea’s International Friendship Exhibition, north of Pyongyang, is a one-of-a-kind gift — a stuffed crocodile carrying a tray of drinks.

The Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua sent this quirky gift to their North Korean comrade, Kim Il Sung, in the 1980s, and it has come to symbolize the relationship between the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the Sandinistas.

Yet the diplomatic ties between the two parties go far beyond this curiosity to a partnership based on anti-colonial solidarity and opposition to American power, with the Sandinistas’ long-standing coziness toward Pyongyang modeled off Cuba’s DPRK policy.