The Awakening of the South｜The Breakout of the “Banana Republic”
2024-08-06
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Xinhua News Agency, Tegucigalpa, August 5th. In La Lima, near San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras, there is a reception center for deported immigrants. Here, more than 100 Hondurans deported by the United States are received almost every day. When they get off the plane, most of them have blurred eyes and thin bodies, and some are still wearing handcuffs and shackles.
The growing illegal immigration has become one of the focal points of this year's US election. US politicians have accused Honduras and other Central American countries of being "illegal immigrant exporters". However, as long as the extreme poverty in these countries is not resolved, the illegal immigration problem in the United States will be difficult to eradicate.
Looking back at history, the United States has an unshirkable responsibility for the long-term poverty of countries such as Honduras. Honduras was once known as the "banana republic", an "oasis" where American capital could do whatever it wanted, and a "green cage" for local poor workers.
Pandora's Box contains bananas
"He took out an optical instrument from his toolbox and examined the banana with the care of a diamond merchant. He cut it apart with a special small scalpel, weighed it with a pharmacist's scale and measured its width with a gunsmith's foot gauge."
In his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez described the curious reaction of Americans when they first saw bananas. In 1870, an American captain named Lorenzo Baker brought back a shipload of bananas from Jamaica and sold them in New Jersey. Since then, bananas have quickly become one of the best-selling fruits in the United States. A large number of trading companies have sprung up, sending bananas from Central America and the Caribbean to the United States.
A local worker works in a banana plantation of the Nana Banana Company in Honduras on June 5. Photo by David De La Paz
At the end of the 19th century, after the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the westward movement, the United States integrated its domestic forces and stepped up its external expansion. American historian Harry Elmer Barnes wrote in "Banana Empire: The Banana Company's Invasion of Caribbean National Sovereignty": "We needed to expand beyond our borders, and this happened to be when we had the necessary resources to achieve expansion, and at that time, the party controlled by industry and finance was in power."
In 1899, Honduras granted its first land concession to the American fruit traders, the Vaccaro brothers. In exchange, they would build a railway in the area. In 1902, the Honduran government leased 5,000 hectares of land to American Frederick Streich. Later, American banana merchant Samuel Semuray obtained the land concession from Streich and founded the Cuyamel Fruit Company in Honduras.
In December 1910, with the support of Semurai, the former president of Honduras, Manuel Bonilla, who was in exile abroad, led a mercenary army back from the United States to Honduras and launched a rebellion. After he successfully regained the presidency, Semurai returned the favor by not only no longer having to pay taxes on exported bananas, but also renting 10,000 hectares of land in northern Honduras and obtaining the right to use the port of Cape Omoa. In 1933, Semurai acquired another American fruit company, the United Fruit Company.
From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, with multiple armed interventions and incited coups, American capital gradually controlled the main economic sectors of Honduras. American companies such as the United Fruit Company, Standard Fruit Company and Cuyamel Fruit Company occupied large tracts of land in northern Honduras, built large-scale banana plantations, and controlled economic lifelines such as transportation, electricity, and manufacturing. In 1913, more than 90% of Honduras' foreign trade was monopolized by the United States. Under the control of American multinational corporations, Honduras formed a highly unified economic structure dominated by banana production, and food and other necessities of life had to rely on imports, which made the Honduran economy very fragile.
A local worker works in a banana plantation of the Nana Banana Company in Honduras on June 5. Photo by David De La Paz
In July 1920, H.V. Ralston, vice president of the Cuyamel Fruit Company, wrote a letter to a lawyer of the United Fruit Company, detailing the strategies of the American fruit company to acquire land and resources in Honduras through various means. He emphasized that the market should be monopolized and competition should be avoided through contracts, franchises and privileges, while local politicians and privileged classes should be used to achieve this goal.
At the end of the letter, Ralston wrote: "We should tear apart the fledgling economy of this country to increase its difficulties in order to achieve our goals. We should prolong its miserable, precarious, turbulent life."
“A country within a country”
Today, banana trees in Honduras are still lush and green, with thick stems supporting clusters of green leaves and heavy fruits hanging in between. However, for the Honduran workers back then, this place seemed green and full of vitality, but in reality it was an inescapable cage.
Esteban Elvil, 91, worked in banana plantations in the Sula Valley in northern Hum. He recalled that the American companies had full control over the banana plantations. In each plantation, the company opened a small shop selling everything from sewing needles, hats, shoes, machetes, axes to pistols. But the company would never allow foreign merchants to sell goods in the plantation area, and would not allow competition to exist. As a result, the workers would spend their wages from the Americans this week in the American-run shop next week.
On June 6, Esteban Elvir, a veteran banana plantation worker, was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporters in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Kai
Elwell said that the working conditions there were extremely bad, and workers were often beaten or even killed. "There was no way to complain, no place to complain, and the power of American company managers was even greater than that of the president."
"The so-called 'Green Pope' is a gentleman sitting in an office, handling orders worth millions of dollars. With a flick of his finger, he can set a ship sail or anchor; with a word, he can buy a republic; with a sneeze, he can bring down a president, general or celebrity... A revolution can break out by rotating his office chair backwards." Guatemalan writer Miguel Angel Asturias vividly portrayed what the United Fruit Company did in Guatemala in his novel "Strong Wind". In fact, the United Fruit Company once controlled the economic lifeline of many Central American countries, becoming a veritable "country within a country".
In Honduras, the United Fruit Company mainly carried out business activities through the Tela Railway Company and the Trujillo Railway Company. The two companies enjoyed privileges such as tariff exemptions, acquired large tracts of land along the railways through the construction of railways, and were free to use local resources such as timber.
Eugenio Sosa, director of the Honduran National Statistics Institute and a sociologist, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency: "In order to get these concessions from Honduras, (US) fruit companies promised to build railways in Honduras, but they did not fulfill their promise and only reluctantly built some lines. Honduras has never had a railway line running through the country."
"In addition, fruit companies also exert influence on politics. They can actually appoint and remove presidents. There are several powerful companies in Honduras, such as United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company... If a company has a bad relationship with the government, it will form a private armed force and support another political force. Election fraud will occur and the government will be overthrown. This brings a lot of political instability." Sousa said.
On May 25, Eugenio Sosa (left), director of the Honduran National Statistics Institute and sociologist, attended a seminar in El Progreso, Honyoro Province, to commemorate the 1954 general strike. Photo by David De La Paz
The reason why American companies can do whatever they want in Honduras is because of the military force of the US government. In 1904, then-US President Theodore Roosevelt declared: "Our interests are virtually identical with those of our southern neighbors... As long as they abide by the fundamental laws of civilized society, we can treat them with sincerity and kindness. Only when (they) are manifestly unable or unwilling to enforce justice at home or abroad, thus infringing on American rights, or inviting foreign invasions that undermine the national interests of the United States as a whole, will we intervene as a last resort."
However, looking back at history, there are too many such "last resorts" in the eyes of Americans. According to statistics, the US military intervened militarily in Honduras in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924-1925, and 1982-1990.
Honduras is not an isolated case. Its neighbor Guatemala has also been repeatedly interfered with by the United States. In 1951, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman took office as the president of Guatemala and implemented land reform, which included allocating a large amount of underutilized land of the United Fruit Company to landless farmers. Arbenz attached importance to infrastructure construction and tried to get rid of the control of American monopoly capital. In terms of foreign relations, he advocated independence and safeguarding national sovereignty. Arbenz's series of reform measures have effectively promoted economic development and social progress, dealt a heavy blow to American monopoly capital, and aroused its strong dissatisfaction.
Walter Turnbull, an executive of the United Fruit Company, approached Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes, Arbenz's opponent in the election, and expressed his willingness to help him overthrow Arbenz. After that, the CIA formed a mercenary army led by Carlos Castillo Armas, invaded Guatemala in June 1954, and drove Arbenz out of office. The United Fruit Company then regained a large area of land. It is worth noting that the then US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and the CIA Director Allen Dulles were both executives of the United Fruit Company, and the mercenary leader Armas was also an employee of the United Fruit Company.
The general strike forever changed Honduras
"In 1929, the crisis broke out suddenly. The collapse of the New York Stock Exchange shook the foundations of world capitalism and hit the Caribbean like a boulder falling on a small pond. The prices of coffee and bananas plummeted and sales dropped sharply. Farmers were violently expelled, unemployment hit rural and urban areas, and waves of strikes followed one after another. Loans, investment and public spending were drastically reduced, and the salaries of government officials in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua were cut in half. The dictators' men quickly arrived to suppress the boiling emotions. The era of Washington's good neighbor policy began, but social unrest broke out and had to be severely suppressed." Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano described that turbulent history in his book "The Open Veins of Latin America."
In the early 1930s, the United States was in the midst of an economic crisis and was eager to expand its overseas markets. However, due to its long-term pursuit of "dollar diplomacy" and "big stick policy", the United States had tense relations with Latin American countries and the Latin American people had strong anti-American sentiment. Therefore, the United States proposed the so-called "good neighbor policy", which was essentially to continue to interfere in and control Latin America under the guise of "equality" and "non-interference".
Faced with all kinds of exploitation, plunder and interference by the United States, the Honduran people have never stopped resisting. Since the early decades of the 20th century, Honduran workers have launched strikes many times to fight for higher wages and improved working conditions.
In 1932, when land-owning producers resisted the United Fruit Company's reduction in the purchase price (of bananas), Tela railroad workers declared a massive strike. The workers protested the dismissal of 800 workers and a 20% wage cut. The sense of justice of the strike was so strong that, in addition to the transport workers, the army sent by the government to suppress it also stood with the strikers... Since the Honduran government and its army were unable to defend the new policy of the United Fruit Company, the United Fruit Company did not hesitate to form its own armed gangs, arrest and kidnap the most radical strike leaders, and send them hundreds of kilometers away by boat and plane, so that people could not hear their voices for a long time. "Wrote Mexican writer Edmundo Valades in his book "Devil's Contract: Banana Concessions in Honduras and Central America".
Elville recalled his experience back then and said: "The foremen treated the workers like livestock. The workers did not have their own union organization. If they proposed to form a union, they would be thrown into prison. The worse case was that the person was never found again. After a period of time, the body was often found in the Ulua River or the Chamelecón River."
In April 1954, workers at the Tela dock threatened to stop work over wages. In May, workers in the mining, railway, textile, tobacco and other industries, as well as workers, farmers and small farmers in the banana-growing areas of northern Honduras joined the strike. Workers from Latin American countries expressed their support for the Honduran strikers. The strike lasted more than 60 days and eventually won, with most of the workers' demands being met.
Andres Alvarez, an 87-year-old retired train driver from Honduras, still remembers the strike vividly. "The 1954 strike was another independence for our country after the declaration of independence in 1821. Politically and socially, I think this is a more important and thorough independence. It was a complete lie to say that Honduras was an independent and sovereign country before. We have always been controlled by others, like slaves, and American companies dominate everything. But after the strike, the workers stood up. Our working conditions and treatment have been greatly improved."
In March 1974, Honduras and seven other Latin American banana producing countries held a ministerial meeting in Panama City, the capital of Panama, and decided to impose an additional tax of 1 to 2.5 cents per pound on exported bananas. In response, the American banana company once boycotted and sabotaged by refusing to purchase and stopping picking bananas, but the banana producing countries united and persisted in the struggle, eventually forcing the American company to pay taxes and compensate for losses in accordance with regulations. In September of the same year, Honduras and five other Latin American countries established the Banana Exporting Countries Alliance.
Since 1975, the Honduran government has announced the cancellation of all franchises and contracts of these American banana companies and nationalized some of the land they controlled. Subsequently, Honduras took over the docks and railways controlled by American capital, took control of the production, transportation and sales of bananas, and nationalized all forest resources and wood processing industries. Thus, Honduras took the first step to get rid of the control of foreign capital and develop the national economy.
On June 7, Honduran presidential adviser and former president Manuel Zelaya was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporters at the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Photo by David De La Paz
"Our people's anti-imperialist struggle is historic and closely related to the workers' movement. Today's Honduras was born from this," said Manuel Zelaya, adviser to the Honduran president and former president, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.
'Complete injustice'
For Hondurans, the injustice of history does not end here.
"Americans enjoy life in our country, but we are treated like dogs in the United States. This is a complete injustice." Juan Guerra burst into tears before he finished speaking. Before he was recently deported by the United States, the 57-year-old Honduran lived in the United States for five years.
While being held in US immigration detention centers, most immigrants were subjected to inhumane treatment. "I felt like I was kidnapped. I was there for 17 days and my family didn't know about my situation. They (the US side) didn't allow me to make phone calls and I was isolated from the outside world. I slept on the floor every day and didn't see the sun until I was released today," said Bernard, a 25-year-old Honduran.
On June 6, Hondurans deported from the United States arrived by plane at a deported immigrant reception facility in La Lima, Honduras. Photo by David De La Paz
Guerra, Bernard and others were all immigrants sent from the United States to the La Lima Reception Center for Deported Immigrants. The center's director, Idalina Bordignon, said that most of these Hondurans are simple and kind, and they just want to improve their lives. "Rich countries such as the United States suck the blood of poor countries and profit by exploiting the labor of poor countries. The United States should treat (Latin American immigrants) more fairly, pay reasonable wages, and provide fair opportunities."
"What did American companies leave behind in Honduras? Poverty, disease, weakness, exploitation, and exploited people... This is what American companies left behind. They plundered the wealth here. American companies did build railways here, but that was to transport the bananas produced to the port and then to the United States. When the Americans left, they took everything from the railways with them. Although the franchise agreement stipulates that the fixed assets of the railways should be left behind, the Americans did not abide by it. They took away the carriages, rails, and even the sleepers." Elwell said, "Honduras is one of the most resource-rich countries in Central America, but now it is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The reason is that the richest countries in the world plundered countries like Honduras. The United States is a colonizer and an invader."
On June 28, 2009, a military coup took place in Honduras, and then-President Zelaya was forced to step down. For nearly half a year, Honduras' political situation has been in a state of turmoil. The United States can be seen behind this coup. Dana Frank, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, wrote in the book "The Long Night in Honduras": "By taking over Honduras, (the United States) is promoting an economic agenda that benefits Honduran oligarchs and (American) multinational corporations. The purpose of their economic plan is to squeeze the hard-earned money of teachers, factory and plantation workers, and those who take to the streets to defend their land rights."
After the coup, the Honduran people who launched the rebellion were suppressed, many people were displaced, and violence and poverty forced some people to go to the United States. Frank said that conservatives and liberals in the United States do not admit that the United States is destroying the livelihoods of Hondurans and does not admit that the United States is responsible for the influx of immigrants.
Zelaya said that many of the coups that took place in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 20th century were related to transnational interest groups in the United States. "I once asked a senior U.S. official if the United States had a guidebook on inciting a coup. He told me that the United States had not just one, but four guidebooks on inciting a coup, and another was being produced."
Honduras is experiencing unity and awakening
At the end of 2021, Zelaya's wife Xiomara Castro was elected the first female president in Honduras' history. Zelaya said that after experiencing two election frauds in 2013 and 2017, the Honduran people finally won in 2021. The people have formed a sense of autonomy in their constant struggles, which is "a great conquest and an awakening."
After coming to power, Castro refused to bow to foreign interest groups and set about changing the oligarchic political situation supported by external forces, rebuilding a national system with financial sovereignty, vigorously combating corruption and organized crime, and promoting reforms in infrastructure, energy, environment, security, medical care, education and other fields.
This is a scene of the city in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, taken on March 20. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Mengxin
Externally, the Honduran government withstood pressure from the United States and formally established diplomatic relations with China in March 2023. Castro said that establishing diplomatic relations with China was a historic decision made by the Honduran government. "I came with the expectations of the Honduran people. Recognizing the one-China principle, establishing diplomatic relations with China, and cooperating with China can bring development opportunities to Honduras."
In March this year, Honduras became the rotating chair of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in 2024. Castro promised to strengthen regional integration, strengthen democracy, and advocate for a more just, equitable and prosperous region. Honduras has actively spoken out on issues such as opposing external interference in the Haitian crisis and mediating the diplomatic dispute between Ecuador and Mexico. In the face of the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Honduran government advocated a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, and the launch of peace talks.
In the center of El Progreso, Yoro Province, Honduras, there is a square commemorating the 1954 strike. Opposite it stands a statue of a banana worker carrying a bunch of bananas on his shoulders. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the strike, and the Honduran government held a seminar to commemorate this important historical event.
Sandra Delas, head of Nana Banana, one of the largest banana producers in Honduras, said that there are more than 50,000 hectares of banana fields in Honduras, most of which used to belong to American companies. Now most of the banana business is run by Hondurans. "We are the owners of this land and the banana planting resources. We always put the interests of the Honduran people first." At present, most of the bananas produced by this company meet the needs of the domestic market. She emphasized that every hectare of bananas planted can provide employment opportunities for two families. As a developing country, Honduras needs to create more jobs to avoid an influx of immigrants into the United States.
A local worker works in a banana plantation of the Nana Banana Company in Honduras on June 5. Photo by David De La Paz
In Zelaya's view, Castro's election as the first female president of Honduras and her adherence to independent domestic and foreign policies "means the beginning of a new era". The Honduran government "has shown a courageous stance in condemning the (US) blockade against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and has a great vision when talking about independence and coexistence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our country is participating in the development of the global South".
【Exclusive Interview】 Professor Alan Fajardo from the National Autonomous University of Honduras
The American banana companies played a disastrous role in Honduras. In the 20th century, Honduras experienced many coups and civil wars. Different banana companies funded the Honduran political parties they supported to seize power in order to get preferential treatment from "their own people", leading to coups one after another until the best land was divided up among them. After that, they stopped opposing each other and supported Tiburcio Carrias Andino to establish a 16-year rule, using force and dictatorship to achieve the "Banana Peace". But this prosperity only benefited American companies, and the living conditions of Honduran workers remained poor.
On June 9, Professor Allen Fajardo of the National Autonomous University of Honduras was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Photo by David De La Paz
In 1954, the workers of Honduras felt the power of unity. The struggle lasted for more than 60 days and received the attention and support of the whole society. This was a great uprising of the Honduran people, which not only demonstrated the power of the working class, but also promoted the introduction of labor laws and the establishment of a social security system.
Despite this, the influence of the United States on Honduras has not been eliminated. The United States has long promoted an industrial model in Honduras that focuses on banana exports, which has led to our single economic structure, heavy external dependence, and relatively backward economic development.
In 2023, Honduras withstood the pressure from the United States and decided to establish diplomatic relations with China, which not only reflects Honduras' attitude of freely exercising its national sovereignty, but also is based on considerations of national interests. Cooperation with China not only helps Honduras' economic development, but also reflects Honduras' independence in the new international order.
Honduras' history is full of interference and exploitation by U.S. banana companies, but through the awakening and struggle of the working class, the Honduran people have demonstrated their strength and determination. Today, Honduras is seeking a new path of development and international status through cooperation with southern countries. This transformation marks a step forward for Honduras from a "banana republic" to a more independent and diversified country.
-END-
Main reporter: Zhao Kai, Xi Yue, Jiang Biao
Video: Miao Peiyuan, Wang Zhiying, Wu Baoshu
Produced by Xinhua News Agency International Department
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