WI Spain sells Cuba to USA for 400 million

NothingNow

Banned
Why?
OTL, the space launch centre was built about as far south as possible given the constraints of being in the US, and having clear ocean to the east (and possibly northeast). IF Cuba were a state, the space centre would more likely be on the southeast tip of Cuba, launching east between Haiti and the Turks and Caicos. Actually, you could launch straight north, too, which might obviate the necessity for Vandenberg in California.

So, no, I doubt that Canaveral would be anything more than a sleepy tourist town, if that.
Actually, considering everything, including the weather, it's a worse location than canaveral, or Tampa Bay, given the sheer number of storms occurring in that part of the Island. Not to mention the rough geography.

There wasn't a road leading to Baracoa until the 1960's for a good reason, and it's not that unusual in Guantánamo Province.

Canaveral and Tampa Bay are much more convenient locations all around.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
I'm inclined to think that the Cuban rebels that had just been shooting at Spanish soldiers will start shooting at American soldiers the moment they arrive.
 
I'm inclined to think that the Cuban rebels that had just been shooting at Spanish soldiers will start shooting at American soldiers the moment they arrive.
wouldn't the US have a beeter time suppressing them than Spain since their alot closer to Cuba
 

NothingNow

Banned
wouldn't the US have a beeter time suppressing them than Spain since their alot closer to Cuba

Yeah, but Yellow Fever, Malaria, and the whole issue of the Americans being more foreign than the Spanish were, even figuring in Baseball kinda figure against that.
 
I was always under the impression that there was a large contingent of Cubans that WANTED to become part of the US, which would make things a lot easier.


As for the space launching area, I doubt that Cuba would be used for the simple matter of transporting rockets across the Gulf just wouldn't happen, as it doesn't now. It would be a hell of a lot faster to move by ship from Houston to Canaveral but due to the the size and how delicate the rockets are they send them by land.


The US getting the Philippines was pretty much an "accident" of the war due to Dewy happening to be in the general area and getting there before the Germans and being able to defeat the Spanish in Manila bay.
 
Would it? It didn't apply to the Philippines, after all. And the same reasons (a large population of people of the wrong colour, language and religion who might want to come to the mainland) apply here, too.

Cuba is very likely to become a state, not simply a colonial possession. The Asian racism concerns do not apply here outside of the Cuban Chinese population. And are you referring to Tagalog or Spanish?

Why?
OTL, the space launch centre was built about as far south as possible given the constraints of being in the US, and having clear ocean to the east (and possibly northeast). IF Cuba were a state, the space centre would more likely be on the southeast tip of Cuba, launching east between Haiti and the Turks and Caicos. Actually, you could launch straight north, too, which might obviate the necessity for Vandenberg in California.

So, no, I doubt that Canaveral would be anything more than a sleepy tourist town, if that.

Canaveral has a large area of fly-over outside of populated areas, a British protectorate nearby that would not repeat the problem of rockets hitting, say, cemetaries in neighboring countries, and has rail/road connections to the rest of the US. While the geography of Cuba has perks and we could debate what less-populated areas might work for a space facility, I think the infrastructure and no need for shipping at a Canaveral site would be factors to consider.
 
Cuba is very likely to become a state, not simply a colonial possession. The Asian racism concerns do not apply here outside of the Cuban Chinese population. And are you referring to Tagalog or Spanish?


.

A certain percentage of cubans were perceived to be white, but many were brown and many black. Id guess brown was seen as about the same as yellow, and black far worse.

Nonenglish is nonenglish, id imagine. And rc is rc.

Sure, puerto rico got protecton iotl, but it was a lot smaller and so less of a problem for the racists.



Re canaveral. Ok, good arguments, mostly, ill buy it as space port even if cubas a state. Thanks for the replies.
 
As for the space launching area, I doubt that Cuba would be used for the simple matter of transporting rockets across the Gulf just wouldn't happen, as it doesn't now. It would be a hell of a lot faster to move by ship from Houston to Canaveral but due to the the size and how delicate the rockets are they send them by land.
y.

Wrong. Saturn stages travelled by water or air. Delta 4s and space sshuttle ets travel by water. Europes ariane rockets cross the atlantic by boat.
 
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