State of Cuba.

What if instead of strong independence feelings Cubans had stronger ones for Statehood in the United States. How would history be changed if Cuba had been admitted into the Union as the 46th state?
No Castro? Missile Affair? Possible more states?
 
The problem with this is the Spanish American War. The Americans joined and raised their flag in victory. They joined during the war of independence so there will always been some people demanding full independence from an early stage.

I don't understand why there cannot be a Castro? He is an excellent politician however his other side will be harder to keep quiet in the Governors house. He enjoyed the company of many a young lady and of course is hardly open to debate on many decisions. Changing Fidel into Democracy loving however still orientated to ensuring that the poor are cared for. Getting rid of the infidelities and making him more open to others opinions, I could see Fidel in the Senate etc. Remember his family were not poor. If he takes the job beening a lawyer seriously then he is halfway into politics.

If Fidel Castro believed in a left politically Cuba just not communism I don't see why he cannot excel there.

To make Cuba a state of the US you either need a large deployment of US troops or major benefits been seen by the average Cuban. In OTL before Castro the Cubans were used by companies such as United Fruit etc. If there is a increasing in the standard of living then maybe Statehood. If Cuba then the Caribbean is free for Statehood. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are joined together to make a new state? That’s a possibility. The fact is most of Latin America is in trouble political around this time. The US if it wanted could expand quite far.
 
You dont nessecarily need the Spanish-American War as a POD, from as early as the 1850's Washington was looking into buying Cuba, however Spain's deminished sense of Great Power status meant they had no interest in giving up one of only two of their relatively decent colonies left (the other being the Philippines).

However maybe greater Cuban unrest, a weaker Spanish economy, a more successful First Republic in the 1870's could all lead to Madrid wishing to get a decent one-off profit from what was obviously a doomed situation.

As for Castro, what I've read about him suggests he was far from a commited Marxist-Leninist. The Revolution was led by his National Orthodox Party, more of a Social-Populist group than out and out Communist. However pragmatism led him into the Soviet Camp, after the US had something of a shit fit when he nationalised foriegn industry, plus Communism also offered him a strong platform to retain authoritarian control.

In a US Cuba, I can imagine Governor Castro to be far more like a Huey Long style radical, probably ruling the state as his personal fiefdom and along semi-legal lines.
 
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