61.
Making A ‘Banana Republic’ Of India
Monsanto And Others Following In The Footsteps Of United Fruit Co.
History Is Repeating Itself
The United Fruit Company was an American corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Central and South American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899.
It flourished in the early and mid-20th century and came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Ecuador, and the West Indies. Though it competed with the Standard Fruit Company for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics.
It had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the banana republics.
At its founding in 1899, United Fruit was capitalized at US$11,230,000. The company proceeded to buy a share in 14 competitors, assuring them of 80% of the banana import business in the United States, then their main source of income.
In 1901, the government of Guatemala hired the United Fruit Company to manage the country’s postal service and in 1913 the United Fruit Company created the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company. By 1930 it had absorbed more than 20 rival firms, acquiring a capital of US$215,000,000 and becoming the largest employer in Central America.
Throughout most of its history, United Fruit’s main competitor was the Standard Fruit Company, now the Dole Food Company.
It flourished in the early and mid-20th century and came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Ecuador, and the West Indies. Though it competed with the Standard Fruit Company for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics.
It had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the banana republics.
At its founding in 1899, United Fruit was capitalized at US$11,230,000. The company proceeded to buy a share in 14 competitors, assuring them of 80% of the banana import business in the United States, then their main source of income.
In 1901, the government of Guatemala hired the United Fruit Company to manage the country’s postal service and in 1913 the United Fruit Company created the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company. By 1930 it had absorbed more than 20 rival firms, acquiring a capital of US$215,000,000 and becoming the largest employer in Central America.
Throughout most of its history, United Fruit’s main competitor was the Standard Fruit Company, now the Dole Food Company.
Reputation
The United Fruit Company was frequently accused of bribing government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, exploiting its workers, paying little by way of taxes to the governments of the countries in which it operated, and working ruthlessly to consolidate monopolies. Latin American journalists sometimes referred to the company as el pulpo (“the octopus”), and leftist parties in Central and South America encouraged the company’s workers to strike.
Criticism of the United Fruit Company became a staple of the discourse of the communist parties in several Latin American countries, where its activities were often interpreted as illustrating Vladimir Lenin’s theory of capitalist imperialism. Major left-wing writers in Latin America, such as Carlos Luis Fallas of Costa Rica, Ramón Amaya Amador of Honduras, Miguel Ángel Asturias and Augusto Monterroso of Guatemala, Gabriel García Márquez of Colombia, and Pablo Neruda of Chile, denounced the company in their literature.
The business practices of United Fruit were also frequently criticized by journalists, politicians, and artists in the United States. Little Steven released a song called “Bitter Fruit” in 1987 in which lyrics referred to a hard life for a company “far away” and whose accompanying video, depicted orange groves worked by peasants overseen by wealthy managers. Although the lyrics and scenery are generic, United Fruit (or its successor Chiquita) was reputed to be the target. In 1950, Gore Vidal published a novel “Dark Green, Bright Red”, in which a thinly fictionalized version of United Fruit supports a military coup in a thinly fictionalized Guatemala.
Criticism of the United Fruit Company became a staple of the discourse of the communist parties in several Latin American countries, where its activities were often interpreted as illustrating Vladimir Lenin’s theory of capitalist imperialism. Major left-wing writers in Latin America, such as Carlos Luis Fallas of Costa Rica, Ramón Amaya Amador of Honduras, Miguel Ángel Asturias and Augusto Monterroso of Guatemala, Gabriel García Márquez of Colombia, and Pablo Neruda of Chile, denounced the company in their literature.
The business practices of United Fruit were also frequently criticized by journalists, politicians, and artists in the United States. Little Steven released a song called “Bitter Fruit” in 1987 in which lyrics referred to a hard life for a company “far away” and whose accompanying video, depicted orange groves worked by peasants overseen by wealthy managers. Although the lyrics and scenery are generic, United Fruit (or its successor Chiquita) was reputed to be the target. In 1950, Gore Vidal published a novel “Dark Green, Bright Red”, in which a thinly fictionalized version of United Fruit supports a military coup in a thinly fictionalized Guatemala.
History in Central America
The United Fruit Company (UFCO) owned vast tracts of land in the Caribbean lowlands. UFCO’s policies of acquiring tax breaks and other benefits from host governments led to it building enclave economies in the regions, in which a company’s investment is largely self-contained for its employees and overseas investors and the benefits of the export earnings are not shared with the host country.
One of the company’s primary tactics for maintaining market dominance was to control the distribution of banana lands. UFCO claimed that hurricanes, blight and other natural threats required them to hold extra land or reserve land. In practice, what this meant was that UFCO was able to prevent the government from distributing banana lands to peasants who wanted a share of the banana trade.
The fact that the UFCO relied so heavily on manipulation of land use rights in order to maintain their market dominance had a number of long-term consequences for the region. For the company to maintain its unequal land holdings it often required government concessions. And this in turn meant that the company had to be politically involved in the region even though it was an American company. In fact, the heavy-handed involvement of the company in governments which often were or became corrupt created the term “Banana republic” representing a “servile dictatorship”.
It allowed vast tracts of land under its ownership to remain uncultivated and, in Guatemala and elsewhere, it discouraged the government from building highways, which would lessen the profitable transportation monopoly of the railroads under its control. UFCO had also destroyed at least one of those railroads upon leaving its area of operation.
In 1954, the democratically elected Guatemalan government of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán was toppled by U.S.-backed forces led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas who invaded from Honduras. Assigned by the Eisenhower administration, this military opposition was armed, trained and organized by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
The directors of United Fruit Company (UFCO) had lobbied to convince the Truman and Eisenhower administrations that Colonel Arbenz intended to align Guatemala with the Soviet Bloc. Besides the disputed issue of Arbenz’s allegiance to Communism, UFCO was being threatened by the Arbenz government’s agrarian reform legislation and new Labor Code.
One of the company’s primary tactics for maintaining market dominance was to control the distribution of banana lands. UFCO claimed that hurricanes, blight and other natural threats required them to hold extra land or reserve land. In practice, what this meant was that UFCO was able to prevent the government from distributing banana lands to peasants who wanted a share of the banana trade.
The fact that the UFCO relied so heavily on manipulation of land use rights in order to maintain their market dominance had a number of long-term consequences for the region. For the company to maintain its unequal land holdings it often required government concessions. And this in turn meant that the company had to be politically involved in the region even though it was an American company. In fact, the heavy-handed involvement of the company in governments which often were or became corrupt created the term “Banana republic” representing a “servile dictatorship”.
It allowed vast tracts of land under its ownership to remain uncultivated and, in Guatemala and elsewhere, it discouraged the government from building highways, which would lessen the profitable transportation monopoly of the railroads under its control. UFCO had also destroyed at least one of those railroads upon leaving its area of operation.
In 1954, the democratically elected Guatemalan government of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán was toppled by U.S.-backed forces led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas who invaded from Honduras. Assigned by the Eisenhower administration, this military opposition was armed, trained and organized by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
The directors of United Fruit Company (UFCO) had lobbied to convince the Truman and Eisenhower administrations that Colonel Arbenz intended to align Guatemala with the Soviet Bloc. Besides the disputed issue of Arbenz’s allegiance to Communism, UFCO was being threatened by the Arbenz government’s agrarian reform legislation and new Labor Code.
Vested Interests In High Places
United States Secretary of State was John Foster Dulles whose law firm Sullivan and Cromwell had represented United Fruit. His brother Allen Dulles was the director of the CIA, and a board member of United Fruit.
Ed Whitman, who was United Fruit’s principal lobbyist, was married to President Eisenhower’s personal secretary, Ann C. Whitman. Many individuals who directly influenced U.S. policy towards Guatemala in the 1950s also had direct ties to UFCO.
Company holdings in Cuba, which included sugar mills in the Oriente region of the island, were expropriated by the 1959 revolutionary government led by Fidel Castro. By April 1960 Castro was accusing the company of aiding Cuban exiles and supporters of former leader Fulgencio Batista in initiating a seaborn invasion of Cuba directed from the United States. Castro warned the U.S. that “Cuba is not another Guatemala” in one of many combative diplomatic exchanges before the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.
Ed Whitman, who was United Fruit’s principal lobbyist, was married to President Eisenhower’s personal secretary, Ann C. Whitman. Many individuals who directly influenced U.S. policy towards Guatemala in the 1950s also had direct ties to UFCO.
Company holdings in Cuba, which included sugar mills in the Oriente region of the island, were expropriated by the 1959 revolutionary government led by Fidel Castro. By April 1960 Castro was accusing the company of aiding Cuban exiles and supporters of former leader Fulgencio Batista in initiating a seaborn invasion of Cuba directed from the United States. Castro warned the U.S. that “Cuba is not another Guatemala” in one of many combative diplomatic exchanges before the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.
PR Pioneers
Finally, United Fruit are notable for pioneering PR. They were clients of Edward Bernays, Freud’s nephew and not coincidentally the godfather of public relations. Applying the principles of Freudian psychology to advertising, Bernays developed the ideas of product placement, celebrity endorsement, and selling things with sex.
For United Fruit, he publicized their (occasional) philanthropic endeavours in Central America, made educational films and radio programmes, and set up a Middle America Information Bureau to inform journalists about the realities of life in the growing regions. He encouraged United Fruit to donate to the exploration of the archaeological ruins that had been uncovered in the course of their jungle-clearing.
For United Fruit, he publicized their (occasional) philanthropic endeavours in Central America, made educational films and radio programmes, and set up a Middle America Information Bureau to inform journalists about the realities of life in the growing regions. He encouraged United Fruit to donate to the exploration of the archaeological ruins that had been uncovered in the course of their jungle-clearing.
Bananagate
In 1975, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission exposed a scheme by United Brands (dubbed Bananagate) to bribe Honduran President Oswaldo López Arellano with US$1.25 million, plus the promise of another US$1.25 million upon the reduction of certain export taxes. Trading in United Brands stock was halted and López was ousted in a military coup.
Banana Massacre
One of the most notorious strikes by United Fruit workers broke out on 12 November 1928 on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, near Santa Marta.
On December 6, Colombian Army troops allegedly under the command of General Cortés Vargas, opened fire on a crowd of strikers gathered in the central square of the town of Ciénaga. Estimates of the number of casualties vary from 400 to 2000.
The military justified this action by claiming that the strike was subversive and its organizers were Communist revolutionaries. Congressman Jorge Eliécer Gaitán claimed that the army had acted under instructions from the United Fruit Company. The ensuing scandal contributed to President Miguel Abadía Méndez’s Conservative Party being voted out of office in 1930, putting an end to 44 years of Conservative rule in Colombia.
The Columbian government claimed that they had to resort to the military action on the innocent strikers as they feared a US invasion.
There may be a grain of truth in this claim as US military was used in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America close to 30 times prior to the 1929 massacre for the purposes of putting down strikes and generally making large areas of land in other countries “safe for bananas”. Howard Zinn wrote quite a bit about US military interventions on behalf of United Fruit in his People’s History of the United States.
The telegram from Bogotá Embassy to the U.S. Secretary of State, dated December 5, 1928, stated:
“I have been following Santa Marta fruit strike through United Fruit Company representative here; also through Minister of Foreign Affairs who on Saturday told me government would send additional troops and would arrest all strike leaders and transport them to prison at Cartagena; that government would give adequate protection to American interests involved.”
The telegram from Bogotá Embassy to Secretary of State, date December 7, 1928, stated:
“Situation outside Santa Marta City unquestionably very serious: outside zone is in revolt; military who have orders “not to spare ammunition” have already killed and wounded about fifty strikers. Government now talks of general offensive against strikers as soon as all troopships now on the way arrive early next week.”
The Dispatch from US Bogotá Embassy to the US Secretary of State, dated December 29, 1928, stated:
“I have the honor to report that the legal advisor of the United Fruit Company here in Bogotá stated yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military authorities during the recent disturbance reached between five and six hundred; while the number of soldiers killed was one.”
The Dispatch from US Bogotá Embassy to the US Secretary of State, dated January 16, 1929, stated:
“I have the honor to report that the Bogotá representative of the United Fruit Company told me yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military exceeded one thousand.”
The surviving strikers of the massacre were immediately put in jail and executed. There were many other small strikes that were inspired by the one that caused the banana massacre.
The Banana massacre is said to be one of the main events that preceded the Bogotazo, the subsequent era of violence known as La Violencia, and the guerrillas who developed during the bipartisan National Front period, creating the ongoing armed conflict in Colombia.
That day marked a turning point, the end of a hopeful age of reform and the beginning of a bloody age of revolution and reaction. Over the next four decades, hundreds of thousands of people — 200,000 in Guatemala alone — were killed in guerrilla attacks, government crackdowns and civil wars across Latin America.
A resident of Bogota provides an epitaph: “Look at the mess we’ve got ourselves into just because we invited a gringo to eat some bananas.”
On December 6, Colombian Army troops allegedly under the command of General Cortés Vargas, opened fire on a crowd of strikers gathered in the central square of the town of Ciénaga. Estimates of the number of casualties vary from 400 to 2000.
The military justified this action by claiming that the strike was subversive and its organizers were Communist revolutionaries. Congressman Jorge Eliécer Gaitán claimed that the army had acted under instructions from the United Fruit Company. The ensuing scandal contributed to President Miguel Abadía Méndez’s Conservative Party being voted out of office in 1930, putting an end to 44 years of Conservative rule in Colombia.
The Columbian government claimed that they had to resort to the military action on the innocent strikers as they feared a US invasion.
There may be a grain of truth in this claim as US military was used in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America close to 30 times prior to the 1929 massacre for the purposes of putting down strikes and generally making large areas of land in other countries “safe for bananas”. Howard Zinn wrote quite a bit about US military interventions on behalf of United Fruit in his People’s History of the United States.
The telegram from Bogotá Embassy to the U.S. Secretary of State, dated December 5, 1928, stated:
“I have been following Santa Marta fruit strike through United Fruit Company representative here; also through Minister of Foreign Affairs who on Saturday told me government would send additional troops and would arrest all strike leaders and transport them to prison at Cartagena; that government would give adequate protection to American interests involved.”
The telegram from Bogotá Embassy to Secretary of State, date December 7, 1928, stated:
“Situation outside Santa Marta City unquestionably very serious: outside zone is in revolt; military who have orders “not to spare ammunition” have already killed and wounded about fifty strikers. Government now talks of general offensive against strikers as soon as all troopships now on the way arrive early next week.”
The Dispatch from US Bogotá Embassy to the US Secretary of State, dated December 29, 1928, stated:
“I have the honor to report that the legal advisor of the United Fruit Company here in Bogotá stated yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military authorities during the recent disturbance reached between five and six hundred; while the number of soldiers killed was one.”
The Dispatch from US Bogotá Embassy to the US Secretary of State, dated January 16, 1929, stated:
“I have the honor to report that the Bogotá representative of the United Fruit Company told me yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military exceeded one thousand.”
The surviving strikers of the massacre were immediately put in jail and executed. There were many other small strikes that were inspired by the one that caused the banana massacre.
The Banana massacre is said to be one of the main events that preceded the Bogotazo, the subsequent era of violence known as La Violencia, and the guerrillas who developed during the bipartisan National Front period, creating the ongoing armed conflict in Colombia.
That day marked a turning point, the end of a hopeful age of reform and the beginning of a bloody age of revolution and reaction. Over the next four decades, hundreds of thousands of people — 200,000 in Guatemala alone — were killed in guerrilla attacks, government crackdowns and civil wars across Latin America.
A resident of Bogota provides an epitaph: “Look at the mess we’ve got ourselves into just because we invited a gringo to eat some bananas.”
The GM Genocide In India
Thousands Of Indian Farmers Are Committing Suicide After Using Genetically Modified Crops
History is repeating itself. Only the players have changed. Instead of South America, it is South Asia and instead of UFCO, it is Monsanto and others.
When Prince Charles claimed thousands of Indian farmers were killing themselves after using GM crops, he was branded a scaremonger. In fact, situation is even worse than he feared. Beguiled by the promise of future riches, thousands of farmers are borrowing money in order to buy the GM seeds. But when the harvests fail, they are left with spiralling debts - and no income.
Thousands of farmers have taken their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops. The crisis, branded the ‘GM Genocide’ by campaigners, was highlighted when Prince Charles claimed that the issue of GM had become a ‘global moral question’ - and the time had come to end its unstoppable march.
When Prince Charles claimed thousands of Indian farmers were killing themselves after using GM crops, he was branded a scaremonger. In fact, situation is even worse than he feared. Beguiled by the promise of future riches, thousands of farmers are borrowing money in order to buy the GM seeds. But when the harvests fail, they are left with spiralling debts - and no income.
Thousands of farmers have taken their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops. The crisis, branded the ‘GM Genocide’ by campaigners, was highlighted when Prince Charles claimed that the issue of GM had become a ‘global moral question’ - and the time had come to end its unstoppable march.
The more self-reliant people become in third world countries, the less they need the products of the global economy. If they replace the export crops that have been foisted on them and grow locally adapted food crops, they won't need to import American grain. In the history of the world, every place where humans have prospered has provided them with the food and fiber and building materials that they needed, for if food wouldn't grow (like in Antarctica and the Sahara), people didn't stick around long.
People are naturally self-reliant and it takes quite a social derangement to keep them from building adequate shelters and growing adequate food. Corporate imperialists are exporters of social derangement. They build a pipeline to the resources of an area and hook it up to a vacuum, pulling out things of value and leaving only pollution behind. The sooner that indigenous peoples take up arms against the visiting corporatist who is casing the joint, the better off they will be.
~ Daniel Rodriguez
The price difference is staggering: £10 for 100 grams of GM seed, compared with less than £10 for 1,000 times more traditional seeds.
But GM salesmen and government officials had promised farmers that these were ‘magic seeds’ - with better crops that would be free from parasites and insects. Indeed, in a bid to promote the uptake of GM seeds, traditional varieties were banned from many government seed banks.
India’s economic boom means cities such as Mumbai and Delhi have flourished, while the farmers’ lives have slid back into the dark ages. When crops failed in the past, farmers could still save seeds and replant them the following year.
But with GM seeds they cannot do this. GM seeds contain ‘terminator technology’, so that the resulting crops do not produce viable seeds of their own.
As a result, farmers have to buy new seeds each year at the same punitive prices. For some, that means the difference between life and death. Thus the cost of the genetically modified future is murderously high.
Official figures from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture do indeed confirm that it is a huge humanitarian crisis, more than 1,000 farmers are killing themselves each month. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), between 1995 and 2009, more than a quarter-million farmers committed suicide.
But GM salesmen and government officials had promised farmers that these were ‘magic seeds’ - with better crops that would be free from parasites and insects. Indeed, in a bid to promote the uptake of GM seeds, traditional varieties were banned from many government seed banks.
India’s economic boom means cities such as Mumbai and Delhi have flourished, while the farmers’ lives have slid back into the dark ages. When crops failed in the past, farmers could still save seeds and replant them the following year.
But with GM seeds they cannot do this. GM seeds contain ‘terminator technology’, so that the resulting crops do not produce viable seeds of their own.
As a result, farmers have to buy new seeds each year at the same punitive prices. For some, that means the difference between life and death. Thus the cost of the genetically modified future is murderously high.
Official figures from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture do indeed confirm that it is a huge humanitarian crisis, more than 1,000 farmers are killing themselves each month. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), between 1995 and 2009, more than a quarter-million farmers committed suicide.
When civilization is disconnected from the loving relation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, symptoms like changes of seasonal regulations, foul means of livelihood, greed, anger and fraudulence become rampant. The change of seasonal regulations refers to one season's atmosphere becoming manifest in another season -- for example the rainy season's being transferred to autumn, or the fructification of fruits and flowers from one season in another season. A godless man is invariably greedy, angry and fraudulent.
~ Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.14.3)
In 2009 alone, more than 17,000 farmers committed suicide just in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Some experts believe the actual number of farmer suicides is much higher than official data indicates.
“The official statistics in India rely on the National Crime Records Bureau -- basically what are police reports of suicide,” says Professor Prabhat Jha of the Center for Global Health Research in Toronto, according to BBC.
“Suicide is a taboo subject,” he adds, suggesting that some deaths have likely been attributed by their families to other causes, like serious illness.
Indian agriculture is in such dire straits that everyday 2000 farmers are quitting agriculture to join the swelling ranks of coolies in urban slums. This fact was reported by International Business Times in a report dated May 02, 2013.
(Source: Wikipedia and others)
Some experts believe the actual number of farmer suicides is much higher than official data indicates.
“The official statistics in India rely on the National Crime Records Bureau -- basically what are police reports of suicide,” says Professor Prabhat Jha of the Center for Global Health Research in Toronto, according to BBC.
“Suicide is a taboo subject,” he adds, suggesting that some deaths have likely been attributed by their families to other causes, like serious illness.
Indian agriculture is in such dire straits that everyday 2000 farmers are quitting agriculture to join the swelling ranks of coolies in urban slums. This fact was reported by International Business Times in a report dated May 02, 2013.
(Source: Wikipedia and others)
