Good points indeed, I will take a look at Lefort, he sounds very intriguing.
Gabriel, you mentioned Fidel's famous fall and the use of ridicule to bring someone down-- that reminded me of the museum in Havana with a section on the CIA's failed attempts at toppling Castro. Highlights include:
Exploding cigars to burn his face
Special powder in his shoes to make his beard fall out, thus causing Cubans to turn on him
Drugging him with LSD emitted through an aerosol spray
Ridiculous stuff, it sounds more like 9 year old kids than government officials who make decisions for a nation...