Castro definitely had friends stateside in '59, Slag, as you say, including some CIA...UNTIL he kicked out the Mafia, the casinos, and the big American companies. Then he became persona non grata in Washington, much to his initial surprise when he went to New York. Then he went to the Russians. In that order. George Washington would have probably the same as Castro, had he been in his place, but the conquering bloody Empire then was Great Britain, not America.

Like I said, run your own show in a small country and you will be called either a Communist (the old boogeyman) or a terrorist (the new boogeyman). Every great conquering bloody Empire needs a boogeyman or two to justify its continued interest in military and commercial domination of farflung areas of the globe.

Castro and Mossadegh (in Iran in 1953) both did the unallowable. They turned business over to local control and took it away from the conquering bloody Empire.

It's all about the $$$money$$$. Every time.