Banana Wars
The banana business has affected caused "profound ecological, demographic, cultural, and political changes" in Latin America. The banana business has also "procured some or most of their fruit through contact farming" and "take a wide range of formas and had varied effects on farming communities". In many regions "the cultivation of bananas was intimately linked to processes of nation building, capital formation, and internal and international migration" and its inception was "viewed as one of Latin America's most promising mechanisms of economic and social modernization". It changed because it "is now popularly associated with the brazen manipulation of national governments by foreign capital". The banana business in Central America is "where they have exerted their greatest influence over national governments and civil societies". In the Caribbean "the region's banana industry has always been dominated by small-scale contract farmers" and the economies "have been even more vulnerable to the uncertainties of weather and international marketing agreements than have their Central American counterparts". South America is "located somewhere between our extremes of Central America and the Caribbean". The two key changes to the banana industry that came with the turn of the century are: 1) foreign banana companies began direct production on a dramatic scale, shifting away from their easier role as exporters of fruit produced by independent growers and 2) the Boston Fruit Company combined with Minor Keith's operations in Central America and Colombia to form the United Fruit Company. In 1930 UFCO "owned nearly twenty times the 139,000 acres of land that it then held under cultivation", this affected Guatemala because the government of Arbez was overthrown when he had attempted to give some of UFCO's land to the poor.
Banana Land: Blood, Bullets, & Poison
What stood out to me is when Dan Koeppel said "the banana business model does not allow diversity". I also think the quote: "everything the banana industry does is about shaving those pennies off the costs and that means their gonna use pesticides...it means they're gonna exploit people, it means they're gonna harm the environment, it means they're gonna prevent people from organizing...and that's been the case for a hundred years" reinforces the manipulation that Moberg and Striffler identify in their book. The documentary reinforces the fact that this repression and manipulation from fruit companies is nothing new and is an unfortunate part of Latin America's history. The documentary also reminds the viewer that US intervention is consistent throughout Latin American economic and political affairs. These banana companies only protect themselves and will do anything to continue to prosper from production of bananas. Another quote that stuck with me is: those people were stigmatized...and nobody said anything". The documentary mentions Panama Disease and so does the text.
"The United Fruit Company"
Neruda touches on the direct oppression of Latin American countries from UFCO. The mention of other large and powerful companies in the US reinforces the notion of imperial capitalism as a common theme between companies. Neruda uses biblical terminology to mock these companies and their beliefs, he's saying that the companies act as if God has given them authority and power. The metaphor of the flies is used to represent the tyrants who benefitted from murdering citizens in order to gain favor from the powerful companies.
The banana business has affected caused "profound ecological, demographic, cultural, and political changes" in Latin America. The banana business has also "procured some or most of their fruit through contact farming" and "take a wide range of formas and had varied effects on farming communities". In many regions "the cultivation of bananas was intimately linked to processes of nation building, capital formation, and internal and international migration" and its inception was "viewed as one of Latin America's most promising mechanisms of economic and social modernization". It changed because it "is now popularly associated with the brazen manipulation of national governments by foreign capital". The banana business in Central America is "where they have exerted their greatest influence over national governments and civil societies". In the Caribbean "the region's banana industry has always been dominated by small-scale contract farmers" and the economies "have been even more vulnerable to the uncertainties of weather and international marketing agreements than have their Central American counterparts". South America is "located somewhere between our extremes of Central America and the Caribbean". The two key changes to the banana industry that came with the turn of the century are: 1) foreign banana companies began direct production on a dramatic scale, shifting away from their easier role as exporters of fruit produced by independent growers and 2) the Boston Fruit Company combined with Minor Keith's operations in Central America and Colombia to form the United Fruit Company. In 1930 UFCO "owned nearly twenty times the 139,000 acres of land that it then held under cultivation", this affected Guatemala because the government of Arbez was overthrown when he had attempted to give some of UFCO's land to the poor.
Banana Land: Blood, Bullets, & Poison
What stood out to me is when Dan Koeppel said "the banana business model does not allow diversity". I also think the quote: "everything the banana industry does is about shaving those pennies off the costs and that means their gonna use pesticides...it means they're gonna exploit people, it means they're gonna harm the environment, it means they're gonna prevent people from organizing...and that's been the case for a hundred years" reinforces the manipulation that Moberg and Striffler identify in their book. The documentary reinforces the fact that this repression and manipulation from fruit companies is nothing new and is an unfortunate part of Latin America's history. The documentary also reminds the viewer that US intervention is consistent throughout Latin American economic and political affairs. These banana companies only protect themselves and will do anything to continue to prosper from production of bananas. Another quote that stuck with me is: those people were stigmatized...and nobody said anything". The documentary mentions Panama Disease and so does the text.
"The United Fruit Company"
Neruda touches on the direct oppression of Latin American countries from UFCO. The mention of other large and powerful companies in the US reinforces the notion of imperial capitalism as a common theme between companies. Neruda uses biblical terminology to mock these companies and their beliefs, he's saying that the companies act as if God has given them authority and power. The metaphor of the flies is used to represent the tyrants who benefitted from murdering citizens in order to gain favor from the powerful companies.
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