As the U.S. ambassador to Colombia , Jefferson was heavily involved in the Banana Massacre that occurred in 1928 in the small , coastal town of Ciénaga . Tired of terrible working conditions and very little wages ( workers were paid in United Fruit Company store credit ) , banana farmers went on strike in protest . In order to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company , Caffery reported to U.S. Secretary of State Frank Billings Kellogg that leaders of the strike would be immediately arrested and sent to prison in nearby Cartagena . Martial law was declared soon after and an unknown number of workers and their families were shot by a firing squad in the town square
Banana Massacre
Banana Massacre
Jefferson Caffery