

The way that I see it, imperialism is just a parasitic relationship that one capitalist country has with another country or region.
The Fascists’ relations with Somalia were imperialist because they were an overall gain for the Fascists but an overall loss for the Somalis.
The Republic of Cuba sending out numerous troops to defend the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was a loss for the Republic of Cuba but a gain for the BRV, so it was not imperialist. (Quite the opposite, if anything.)
Admittedly, this is a somewhat crude and informal understanding of imperialism, but it should be easy enough to grasp for those who unwisely oversimplify imperialism to just countries doing stuff in other countries.

https://www.etymonline.com/columns/post/sources