They're too fuckin dumb to understand nuanced material critique, so all you're doing is giving them ammo to justify their own anticommunist biases from a left lens. There is no nuance in mainstream politics and the discussions therein, only extremes of black and white, with freedom countries on one and evil dictatorships on the other. Stop it.
Idk if it only works in academic discussions, but yeah know your audience. Assert the right to self determination and unquestioning hostility to US imperialism and its obvious propaganda. Don't try to justify the questionable stuff AES states do from time to time unless you're with someone who is willing to learn.