Fidel Castro dead

[abaris]

I'm on mobile but I do remember reading an article from a political science journal about how he only chose to make his regime communist because he hated the West.

As I said, there was a lot going on at that time. One article certainly doesn't cover it all. Raul as well as Che were communists right from the get go. Fidel was an opportunist. I think he would have gladly taken any opportunity that kept him in charge. I don't know the exact timeline and which side actually started the altercation, but at the end, Castro had no other choice than to turn to the Soviets. Not with all the embargos in place. From the top of my head I only know that the USA enforced a sugar embargo, followed by Castro nationalising US assets. If Castro made any hostile move before the sugar embargo was declared is beyond my knowledge without looking deeper into the matter.