Banana Colony: San Pedro Sula, Honduras Under the U.S. Banana Empires, 1875-1960

Abstract

Throughout the early 20th Century, United States Banana companies dominated the Central American economy and society, leaving an indelible impact on many people's sense of self and other. In Honduras, three companies –– The United Fruit Company, the Cuyamel Fruit Company, Standard Fruit Company –– formed virtual colonial empires. During the height of their power, they brought significant economic and physical development to the area around San Pedro Sula but also significant poverty. When plant diseases brought by monocropping of single varieties led the companies to abandon plantations and the roads, bridges, and railroads connecting, large numbers of displaced peasant farmers streamed into the city in search of work. The fruit companies viewed the plant diseases as a natural result of "unclean" soil. While elevating the afro-carib Garifuna, they tended to marginalize the majority Honduran mestizo population. The Honduran mestizos responded by uniting around the figure of the native warrior Lempira and fashioning a conception of true Honduran identity as one of resistance to "outsiders," a term that included both the U.S. corporate powers and the Garifuna.