Castro on steroids? The only difference between Castro and Chavez is that Chavez has oil money. How long that will last is questionable, not so much about running out of oil, but more running off the competent technical people from PdVSA due to “political reliability” - unless the Chinese fill the gap.
As for Castro, remember that Castro and Guevara were too close to taking control over the Soviet missiles and launching them.
The Soviets left troops in Cuba purportedly to keep control of the launch capability. The story I remember was that the soccer fields constructed for the Soviet troops was what alerted the U.S. to take a closer look.
I was alive at the time, and I never heard that one. Everyone thought that control of the SS-4's and -5's the Sovs were trying to install would be tight, preclusive, and all-Soviet.
As to this article, has Dinnerjacket concluded some sort of agreement with Chavez for exporting Iranian missiles?