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The history of
banana growing in
Central America
is closely tied to the history of politics in the same area from the
1880's through the 1970's. Prior to 1870, bananas were unknown in the
United States
. The first bananas were imported to the U.S. in 1870 and just 28 years
later, Americans in the U.S. were consuming over 16 million bunches a
year. The story begins in 1871 with the construction of a railroad in
Costa Rica
by an industrious 23 year old from
Brooklyn
named Minor Keith. The project cost hundreds of lives, including the
lives of his two brothers. Keith was a man who would do anything to
advance his own interests. He even married the daughter of the Costa
Rican President. His efforts paid off and eventually he earned the title
"The Uncrowned King of
Central America
".
While Keith was
building the railroad in
Costa Rica
he was also executing a much bigger plan. As construction progressed, he
planted bananas on the land easements to either side of the tracks. The
bananas flourished and with the railroad completed it was possible to
economically transport the bananas to eager markets in the
United States
and
Europe
. Ten years later, Keith owned three banana companies. Keith then joined
up with a Cape Cod sailor, Captain Lorenzo Baker and a Boston
businessman, Andrew Preston. Together they raised the money to found the
Boston Fruit Company. In 1899, the Boston Fruit Company and the United
Fruit Company (UFCO) merged, thus forming the largest banana company in
the world with plantations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica,
Nicaragua, Panama and Santo Domingo. They also owned eleven steamships,
known as the Great White Fleet plus 30 other ships rented or leased. The
company also owned 112 miles of railroad linking the plantations with
ports.
In 1901, Guatemalan
dictator, Manuel Estrada Cabrera granted to UFCO the exclusive right to
transport postal mail between
Guatemala
and the
U.S.
This was UFCO's first entry into
Guatemala
. Ruled by a right-wing dictator who would do anything UFCO wanted,
Minor Keith judged
Guatemala
to have "an ideal investment climate". He formed the
Guatemalan Railroad Company as a subsidiary of UFCO and capitalized it
at $40 million. He contracted with Cabrera to build a railroad between
Guatemala City
and Puerto Barrios. UFCO also obtained permission to purchase lots in
Puerto Barrios at a nominal price and received a grant of land one mile
long by 500 yards wide on either side of the municipal pier. Keith also
negotiated the contract to build telegraph lines from the capital to
Puerto Barrios.
Other countries in
Central and South America also fell under the thrall of the mighty UFCO,
also called "yunai" or "La Frutera" or "El
Pulpo" (the octopus) in Latin America, but none were more under
UFCO's thumb than
Guatemala
. United Fruit's Guatemalan operation generated about 25 percent of the
company's total production. In
Guatemala
, United Fruit gained control of virtually all means of transport and
communications. United Fruit charged a tariff on every item of freight
that moved in and out of the country via Puerto Barrios. For many years,
the coffee growers of
Guatemala
paid very high tariffs and the price of Guatemalan coffee on the world
market was high because of this.
The capital of the
United Fruit Company empire was in
Guatemala
, in the town of
Bananera
, where it made its headquarters. From here it master-minded its empire
and corrupted every level of government and politics in
Guatemala
. United Fruit also managed to exempt itself from virtually all taxes
for 99 years. UFCO had its fingers in almost every pie in
Guatemala
. UFCO had the unconditional support of right-wing dictators who
maintained their power by terrorizing the people and arresting prominent
citizens who were either killed on the spot or tortured in prison to
extract confessions. During one wave of repression under Jorge Ubico,
hundreds were killed in just two days.
In 1944, the people
of
Guatemala
overthrew the right-wing dictator then in power, Jorge Ubico.
Guatemala
held its first true elections in history. They elected Dr. Juan Jose
Arevalo Bermej to the presidency. A new constitution was drawn up, based
on the
U.S.
Constitution. Arevalo was a socialist and an educator who built over
6,000 schools in
Guatemala
and made great progress in education and health care.
At this time in
Guatemala
, just 2.2 percent of the population owned over 70 percent of the
country's land. Only 10 percent of the land was available for 90 percent
of the population, most of whom were Indians. Most of the land held by
the large landowners was unused. Arevalo was succeeded in another free
election by Jacobo Arbenz who continued the reform process begun under
Arevalo. Arbenz proposed to redistribute some of the unused land and
make it available for the 90 percent to farm. Here is where the problem
arose: United Fruit was one of the big holders of unused land in
Guatemala
. The pressure mounted against UFCO and finally the company complained
to the many friends it had within the U.S. government including
President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, saying
that Guatemala had turned communist.
The
U.S.
State Department and United Fruit embarked on a major public relations
campaign to convince the American people and the rest of the
U.S.
government that
Guatemala
was a Soviet "satellite".
"It
[United Fruit] began with enviable connections to the Eisenhower
administration. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his former
New York
law firm, Sullivan and Cromwell, had long represented the company. Allen
Dulles, head of the CIA, had served on UFCO's board of trustees. Ed
Whitman, the company's top public relations officer, was the husband of
Ann Whitman, President Eisenhower's private secretary. (Ed Whitman
produced a film, "Why the Kremlin Hates Bananas," that
pictured UFCO fighting in the front trenches of the cold war.) The fruit
firm's success in linking the taking of its lands to the evil of
international communism was later described by one UFCO official as
"the Disney version of the episode." But the company's efforts
paid off. It picked up the expenses of journalists who traveled to
Guatemala to learn United Fruit's side of the crisis, and some of the
most respected North American publications - including the New York
Times, New York Herald Tribune, and New Leader - ran stories
that pleased the company. A UFCO public relations official later
observed that his firm helped condition North American readers to accept
the State Department's version of the Arbenz regime as
Communist-controlled and the U.S.-planned invasion as wholly
Guatemalan." (Quoted from Inevitable Revolutions - The
United States
in
Central America
by Walter La Feber, 2nd ed. 1993, pp. 120-121.
The campaign
succeeded and in 1954 the
U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency orchestrated a coup, code-named
"Operation PBSUCCESS". The invading force numbered only 150
men under the command of Castillo Armas but the CIA convinced the
Guatemalan public and President Arbenz that a major invasion was
underway. The CIA set up a clandestine radio station to carry
propaganda, jammed all Guatemalan stations, and hired skilled American
pilots to bomb strategic points in Guatemala City. The
U.S.
replaced the freely elected government of
Guatemala
with another right-wing dictatorship that would again bend to UFCO's
will.
The history of
Guatemala
since the Spanish conquest is one of continuous domination and
repression. For a brief ten years from 1944 to 1954,
Guatemala
experienced the fresh air of democracy. However, with a right-wing
dictatorship back in power,
Guatemala
was thrown back into the dark ages and the stage was set for the next 30
years of repression and killing. As part of their efforts in the coup,
the CIA made a list of 70,000 "questionable individuals".
During
Guatemala
's 36 year civil war that just came to an end this year (1996), the
government often referred to this list originally put together by the
CIA.
As is always the
case, opinions can be found on both sides of the question of whether
United Fruit was a benefit or a scourge to
Central America
. The company certainly brought a great deal of economic development and
organization to a region that had very little of either. The United
Fruit Company paid its full-time employees better than any other, built
housing and schools for the children of its employees, built hospitals
and research laboratories. From early on the company embarked on
vigorous research projects to conquer tropical diseases such as malaria
and dengue fever. Their laboratories also worked very hard to conquer
the specialized diseases of the banana plant. In
Costa Rica
, whole areas of bananas were wiped out by disease and the laboratories
of United Fruit developed specialized insecticides and fungicides to
halt the problem. Some of these laboratories are still at work today.
United Fruit brought
tangible benefits to the countries where it operated, but also brought
problems or perpetuated existing ones. For the legions of seasonal
workers in the fields, life was very hard. Conditions were physically
dangerous and the toxic chemicals used on the banana plants were a
constant hazard. Malaria and dengue fever were a constant danger as
well. The field workers for UFCO were paid more than on other farms but
the work was seasonal and annually amounted to very little. United Fruit
staunchly opposed any attempts at the formation of unions. It would
abandon entire areas if unionism started to gain a foothold. When it
abandoned an area it would tear down the housing and schools it had
built leaving the area destitute. The company also practiced
institutionalized racism. In company towns like Morales/Bananera and
Puerto Barrios non-whites were forced to yield right-of-way to whites.
The whole concept of a "banana republic" was exemplified by
the conditions in
Guatemala
from 1920 through 1944. The government worked very closely with United
Fruit to maintain the highly stratified, fiefdom-like social structure
of
Guatemala
so as to provide a plentiful supply of cheap labor. UFCO didn't create
this social structure but worked to amplify it and perpetuate it.
United Fruit later
changed its name to United Brands and then ran into financial
difficulties during the 1970's. UFCO's lands were bought by the Del
Monte Corporation which now operates the former holdings of United Fruit
but no longer engages in the political and social manipulations of the
past.
P.
Landmeier © 1997
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