here we have a unique case of a maoist calling cuba a "banana republic" of the soviet union because it received aid from it

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I wonder who was the greater influencer of Cuban foreign policy post-revolution - the Soviets thousands of miles away or the Americans ninety miles away. You can watch old interviews of Castro in the fifties and it seems like he wanted to have a good image in the American press, but that was made impossible for him when it became clear he was a communist and the narrative turned against him, leaving him frankly with no good choice.

      • glimmer_twin [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        but that was made impossible for him when it became clear he was a communist

        There’s quotes from Castro saying almost the opposite - if you look at his early beliefs he was really just for a progressive national liberation movement. He said later that it was only after seeing the way the communists treated independent Cuba, versus how the capitalists treated them, that turned him into a committed communist.

        Hanging out with Che helped of course :P

        • ssjmarx [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I thought he became a communist during the revolution itself, but if it happened afterwards partially as a response to US coldness that's a bit different.