My friend told me that before Castro was Marxist he asked for American aid in overthrowing the corrupt regime of Batiste but was denied before turning to Soviet aid. How true is this?
It seems pretty crazy but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction so I thought I'd ask.
I can answer your second question. That is a common myth that emerged in response to Cold War arguments (equally false) that Vietnamese communists were simply puppets of the Soviet Union. Ho Chi Minh was a vocal proponent of Lenin and the Third International at least as early as 1919, studied at the Comintern in the 1920s and led the Comintern's Southeast Asia efforts in the 1930s. He was however a proponent of strategic coalitions with non-communist groups to achieve independence. He sought support from the Mao and Stalin, but also from diverse sources including French Catholic clergy, other Asian (non-communist) states, European countries, and the United States.
/u/ainrialai Have you heard of this claim about Fidel? I study Cuba and even read hard line (serious) critics of Fidel and this is the first I have heard of this. It doesn't make sense on a lot of levels and I'm genuinely curious if this is legit.