Title: The Banana Trade War — Global Issues
Headings: The Banana Trade War
The Banana Trade War
On this page:
Bananas are serious business
The WTO rules against the Largest Aid and Trade Pact, the Lomé Convention
A trade war between US and Europe: two banana-importing consumer nations
We will act multilaterally when we can and unilaterally when we must
Chiquita
Caribbean region’s dependency on bananas is unhealthy
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Content: Wikipedia)
In a number of countries such as Brazil and India, large amounts of bananas are produced but consumed mostly locally. Other regions such as Central America and the Caribbean include a large number of banana exporters. Some of the nations in these regions are quite dependent on banana exports, often to their former colonial rulers. Chapman details in his above-mentioned book, how for decades one multinational, United Fruit Company (now declined and surviving in small part as Chiquita), was often accused of bribing Latin American government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, exploiting workers, creating an abusive monopoly, and—similar to accusations some oil companies have have faced—encouraged or supported US coups against smaller nations putting in place dicatorships. The story of it’s rise and demise, which Chapman details, almost created the banana industry and what became termed the banana republics of Central America. As Rebecca Cohen in her above-mentioned article summarized, the United Fruit Company thrived on the lack of unity, poverty, and corrupt governments in Central America. Businesses were able to get favorable terms, the best land, and vertical integration of the whole production and supply processes making them large, powerful and enormously influential entities. Even during times tough times for United Fruit Company, (such as when they favored Hitler’s rapidly industrializing Germany over the US just as the Second World War was going to break out), they managed to get by and resorted to information/perception management (i.e. propaganda) and philanthropy to foster a more positive image of itself. ( Chapman, pp. 111–119)
Dole and Chiquita are, in effect, inheritors of the empires that their predecessors created (Dole was formerly the Standard Fruit Company and United Fruit Company mostly survives as Chiquita though none have such overt geopolitical practices that their earlier companies were accused of).