The ships came down in a massive display of force, surrounding the island with drone swarms numbering hundreds of thousands. Records indicate there was a drone for every 200 Cubans. “Deliverance Drones” was what the Pentagon called them. What they delivered were simple voting devices and a brief recording in Spanish that broadcast the options: Vote “Yes” if you want to become the newest US Territory and be put on a path to full statehood in 20 years; vote “No” to choose a siege until the communist government steps down and the island opens up to unfettered trade and tourism from the USA. There was further explanation of the benefits of a “Yes” vote and costs of “No” vote, but it was not what you would call even-handed. It boldly declared facts that were unspeakable on the island: The one-party government had already lost on the world stage, and Cuba was on the brink of collapse. Anyone who could afford to get off the island was leaving, and the rest were hardly having babies anymore. If it wasn’t for strict control of media, they would be able to see how far their beloved island nation had fallen.

The screens on the voting devices showed images of American grocery stores and Happy Meals. Pressing the “More” button played a famous stage actor reciting in dignified Spanish, accompanied by images of eagles, purple mountains’ majesty, lush orchards, and waving US flags:

“The Declaration of Dependence of the United States Territory of Cuba:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, by inviting a successful and powerful neighboring government to take charge of their affairs, so as to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

—Such has been the patient sufferance of Cuba under absolute Tyranny; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government by Declaring Dependence on the United States of America and entering the Free World.”

Did the average Cuban really understand what he was choosing? The deadline of 24 hours to make up his mind didn’t offer much time to compare notes with his neighbors or deconstruct years of government propaganda about US imperialism. One can imagine the questions he considered: Was the Cuban Communist Party actually on the brink of collapse, as the voting devices said? Would becoming part of the American Empire be so bad? Would the average Cuban get to live like a baseball star or one of his distant relatives who had made it to Florida or Nueva York? Was it true that the grocery stores in the USA had tons of meat available at low prices? And, on the other hand, did Cubans really have a choice?

To the extent that it had worked at all, Cuban communism worked thanks to control of information and brutal repression of dissent. And then, like an army of angels (or a horde of demons), every Cuban had a tool of dissent drop into her lap (or sidewalk or rooftop or garden). 24 hours later, On July 4, 2026, sixty-four percent of Cubans voted to become the newest territory of the United States of America. Navy Seals breached the capitol in minutes after the vote, while others detained the ailing First Secretary of the Communist Party and Buro Politico members and transferred them to the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. President Trump announced the successful raid at the massive military parade in honor of the USA’s 250th anniversary.

That was 20 years ago. Today, as the US Territory of Cuba’s bid for statehood is presented to Congress, The New Hemisphere went to Havana to hear from Cubans how dependence has affected their lives and hopes. This week, we interviewed Ernesto Ivan Diaz, a Havana mechanic. On Dependence Day, Diaz — then 32 — was an eager “Yes” voter. The father of three has steely gray hair, an easy smile, and a complex view of the last twenty years. His pride and joy is an ice white 2037 Toyota Tundra quad cab that he helped build while spending several years in Texas before returning to the island.

TNH: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen since Cubans voted to join the USA?

Diaz: My God, where do I start? I try to tell my kids what it was like under the Party, and they just can’t grasp it. Everything old — the cars, the buildings, the ideas — old and crumbling, held together with bondo and hidden behind a fresh coat of paint, but not solid, you know? All but my eldest grew up with Disney and Marvel and Dora the Explorer and McDonalds and Nike. So different from my childhood. Like,… my kids can just go to the store and buy milk whenever they want! We couldn’t do that. Only a few things would be available in stores, so you had to “know a guy” to just get, like chicken, or something on the black market back then. What I grew up with was waiting. Waiting at the public health clinic. Waiting for food to return to shelves. Waiting to get work. Waiting to die.

Yeah, that’s part of the change, everything went from slow to fast. No more “island time,” just boom! New money came in, speculators buying up beachfront property. Old hotels from the mid-20th century were hot items. Before the vote, the Rubio State Department had already drawn up a plan for how property would be divided among the populace, recognizing established homestead rights as well as families who had been significant property-holders before communism. Some Cubans in Florida whose grandparents had been expropriated in the revolution became fabulously wealthy overnight. A few of these sold their recovered properties to wealthy investors, but probably half came back to the island to rehabilitate their properties and hire management teams. Some of the more decrepit buildings were razed and replaced with the new steel-and-glass skyscrapers you see downtown. And then the brands sprouted up everywhere — not just McDonalds and Starbucks but Home Depot, Walmart, Pueblo, Best Buy; and banks! Real banking. Management teams were brought in from Puerto Rico and the southwestern states, because fluency in Spanish was required. And some enterprising franchisees jumped at the chance to enter a new market. I think Yemeni coffee shops outdid Starbucks in that regard. It took living in Texas to realize they’re not as widespread on the mainland as they are here.

TNH: How did these changes affect you and your neighbors?

Diaz: There was definitely some resentment of the newcomers. It’s one thing to be told “You’re going to be better off as a US Territory,” but when you see the first gains being had by mainland Americans who had capital, it starts to look like maybe Castro was right, you know?

I think it was hardest for the older generation, who had accommodated themselves to the communist equilibrium. You can still hear them complaining about losing the entitlements they had under the Party. Not that those entitlements gave them enough to live on, but it was a sense of security. In the new regime, if someone had initiative and energy, there was lots of paying work to be had. I worked construction for a while, and it was amazing to see that hard work, how-do-you-say, “hustle” [here, he used the English word], was rewarded. But some guys were used to only working three or four hours a day. They ended up getting paid less, missing out on jobs and promotions. Instead of having everyone at a low level of “equality” we got to see the inequality that results from rewarding achievement. Of course some people were unhappy about that. Later on I learned that some philanthropists on the mainland had put together a fund to cover the pensions of the old, but soon the rising costs of actual goods that people wanted made that seem paltry. When there was nothing worth buying, it didn’t matter that you just had enough to eat. Now maybe you want a smartphone, your own monthly Internet subscription; and a trip to the doctor isn’t free either.

But I want to get back to your first question.

TNH: Alright.

Diaz: You asked what the biggest changes were. Because I was young and energetic, with newfound US citizenship, I decided to move to Texas for a while. Seeing the mainland really blew my mind. Like, I had an impression of what American cities were like, but living in one and starting on the lower part of the social ladder was an education like nothing else. I expected everyone to hate me, because we had been told that all Americans are xenophobes. But if you’re willing to work hard, people respect that.

I started out working at an Amazon warehouse and eventually got a job in the Toyota factory. I saved money by living with a few other Cuban guys and sent remittances back to my wife on the island. But the real mind-blower was when I came back to the island eight years later. One of my peak experiences in America, I mean on the mainland, was getting to watch the Houston Astros play, at their actual ballpark. When I moved back home, I had made enough to take the whole family to watch the Havana Giants play the New York Yankees — in Havana! We were able to take our savings and move to a nicer neighborhood and get the kids into a STEM-focused charter school. I started my own auto shop. It’s the American dream, right here in Cuba. That experience was when it really started sinking in. All three of my kids speak better English than I do, and they’ve only left the island for vacations. Yes, of course I took them to Disney World and Universal Studios.

TNH: That sounds like a glowing endorsement. Is it safe to assume you want Cuba to have full statehood?

Diaz: Yes, one day. But maybe not yet. I’m not sure we’re ready.

TNH: Could you explain what you mean?

Diaz: I know you journalists picked me because I’m, like, a poster boy for success under the new regime, but we still have a lot of old timers who wish we could go back to the old way. “Things were better before greed took over” and all that nonsense. The socialist bloc in the territorial legislature hasn’t surpassed forty percent of the seats, but I worry that they are trying to reclaim the bureaucracy. You know the way government employees like to have their little committees and areas they control without having to, you know, “hustle.” Following mainland news and seeing how states or cities that get a little too socialist go downhill, it’s worrisome. These old guard types are praised in California and Boston. Maybe capitalism needs another generation of Cubans to get used to success before we’re ready for statehood. I read the US Constitution. Being a state means we have a say not just in who becomes President but also in amending the basic governing documents of this great country. It might be better to let more of the old communists die off before we take up those responsibilities.

I keep reminding my relatives and neighbors about all the good things that have happened to the island since Dependence. But some of those old timers think of me as exceptional, or lucky. Some people I don’t socialize with would probably call me a greedy parasite.

TNH: Does that have an impact on your day-to-day life?

Diaz: Not where I live now. If I had stayed in the old neighborhood, maybe. But life is good. What do I have to complain about? My son is going to take over my business. And we treat people fairly. Most people recognize that I remember where I came from, you know? The haters can stew in their own anger if they care.

The other contingent that was unhappy with Cuban Dependence was the isolationist portion of MAGA, who gained ammunition in their factional struggle for the soul of the GOP following US conquests in the Gulf of America during the 250th anniversary year. Hardline nativists were not thrilled about extending citizenship to 11 million more Latinos. The Rubio faction lost ground in 2028 but President Vance didn’t undo what his predecessor had achieved in the region. Some will argue that US interventionism in the Caribbean is why Vance didn’t put up a military response when the People’s Republic of China annexed Taiwan.

Conspiracy-minded MAGA podcasters threw their weight against the “Caribbean pacification” plans of the Rubio State Department, and soon aligned themselves with Marxist rebels who had connected with their Puerto Rican counterparts. The rebels used the newfound tools of public assembly and public dissent to make hell for the new territorial government. Their allies on the mainland made them a darling of leftist activists. As the vote on statehood approaches, rebels on the island have resorted to violent attacks on tourists, hotels, and other symbols of capitalist success. Police sweeps through poor districts and neighborhoods are alleged to have created resentment and been a useful recruiting tool for the “resistance.”

As it stands now in 2046, the pro-statehood faction is mostly made up of Trumpist conservatives on the island, their fellow Cuban Republicans on the mainland, and non-nativist GOP members of Congress. The anti-statehood faction includes Marxists in the Caribbean, MAGA nativists, and most Democrats in Congress, with the exception of a few “blue dogs” who think they can make a grand compromise to bring left-leaning Washington DC and Puerto Rico into statehood at the same time as Cuba, in order to maintain a balance. President Ivanka Trump has so far kept her cards hidden.

While the Pax Americana is mostly holding in the Caribbean so far, this year portends big changes regardless of whether statehood for Cuba is achieved or rejected.

This work of fiction is something I have been tinkering on for a while. Recent events encouraged me to shake up the timeline and whip it into the current form. I considered posting it under my fiction publication, but it’s so topical and of the moment that I thought it best to post under this, my better known publication. A big thank you to everyone who helped with input into this story. If you enjoyed this please share it with your followers.

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