Fidel Castro was actually from a comfortable
circumstances and through the marriage to his second wife he was exposed to wealth in Cuba. He was educated as a lawyer at the University of Havana and it was there he became exposed to the political climate of Cuban nationalism, anti-imperialism and socialism.
One thing would lead to another in his life and he eventually would come to participate in the "July 26th Movement." In it's earliest form it failed, but, in 1959 it became a populous preference. Imagine that.
The populous movement was originally a political organization. In 1952, they were believed to be the party that would win that election, however, an insurrection occurred. July of 1953 Castro's organized militia would attack the the Moncada Barracks, which was a federal garrison. It began the Cuban Revolution that would ultimately lead to Batista's exile.
Following the attack on Moncada, Castro was sentenced to prison for fifteen years but due to his iconic status among the people and their unrest he was given amnesty in 1955, released. He went to Mexico and met Che Guevara.
In 1956, both Fidel and Raul Castro along with Guevara would lead a guerrilla war against Batista. Fidel Castro carried out a campaign that was not only military, but, also in agricultural reform among the people. He improved their lives. In 1959, he would succeed in forcing Batista out of power and into exile. He would become the youngest leader of Cuba at the age of 32.
Ultimately, he would seek a relationship with the USA under Eisenhower, but, it failed. His instituted agricultural reforms would remove low taxes from American industries and limit their size of land holdings. He always denied being communist, but, he continued radical reforms that took land and placed it in the hands of the government with the people ultimately employees. He then began to control the media.
In February 1960, Cuba signed a trade agreement to buy oil from the Soviet Union and established diplomatic relations. U.S.-owned refineries in Cuba refused to process the oil, so Castro expropriated the refineries. The United States retaliated by cutting Cuba's import quota on sugar. This began a decades-long contentious relationship between the two countries.
The poor relationship with Cuba exists in American grudges over it's loss of economic freedom. It isn't really based in Anti-Communism. At least not today. No one can over look the Cuban Missile Crisis, but, the opposition the USA carried out ended that aspect of any danger to USA borders.
Basically, over the decades the relationship between the USA and Cuba has stagnated as has the Cuban economy.
I am not sympathetic to dictatorships. But, one of the reasons Fidel Castro was the first to recognize Nelson Mandela was because he recognized himself in the struggles of the people in South Africa. True to form the USA was not interested in upsetting the economic apple cart in South Africa when it's ally was Great Britain. So, while Nelson Mandela looked to the USA for support, it would not come until later. Having Fidel Castro recognize apartheid as an oppressive directive by the South African government did bring it to the international stage, whether The West liked it or not.
