>Why should we think that its authoritarian character is
>necessarily a consequence of US opposition?
We don't. There are plenty of states that are authoritarian without inspiration from the U.S. That Cuba is "mildly authoritarian," as you put it, is a point greatly in its favor. But my argument is that any country taking a path that doesn't please the U.S. is shoved in an authoritarian direction because of the U.S.'s propensity to subvert and overthrow regimes it doesn't like. And I've yet to hear a credible nonauthoritarian way of defending a revolution against Langley.
Doug