Backyard Empire: The U.S. in Latin America · Episode 2 of 14 · 41 min
How a Fruit Company Toppled a Government
For most of the twentieth century the United Fruit Company grew bananas and also owned the railroads, ports, and much of the politics across Central America and the Caribbean. The episode follows it from an 1899 Boston merger through the Ciénaga massacre and the 1954 CIA coup in Guatemala to Chiquita's 2007 guilty plea and a 2024 jury verdict. The host's own visits to two company enclaves thread through it.
Who's who
- Minor Cooper KeithRailroad builder and planter who joined the 1899 merger as vice-president
- Andrew PrestonBoston co-founder and first president of United Fruit
- Samuel ZemurrayRival fruit magnate who took control of United Fruit in 1933
- Edward BernaysPublic relations pioneer who ran the company's U.S. propaganda campaign
- Jacobo ÁrbenzElected president of Guatemala, ousted in 1954
- John Foster Dulles+1 more episodeSecretary of State with prior ties to United Fruit's law firm
- Allen Dulles+2 more episodesCIA director with prior ties to the company
- Carlos Castillo ArmasCIA-backed colonel installed after Árbenz fell
Where it happens
- Ciénaga, ColombiaSite of the 1928 Banana Massacre
- Guatemala+7 more episodesLand reform and 1954 coup against Árbenz
- Boston, Massachusetts+11 more episodesCompany headquarters after the 1899 merger
- Honduras+1 more episodeZemurray's Cuyamel base; 1911 coup and later bribery scandal
- Golfito, Costa RicaUnited Fruit enclave visited by the host
- Puerto Barrios, GuatemalaUnited Fruit enclave visited by the host
Timeline
- March 30, 1899Boston Fruit and Keith's holdings merge to form the United Fruit Company
- December 1928Colombian army fires on striking workers at Ciénaga
- June 27, 1954Árbenz resigns under CIA-backed invasion; land reform reversed
- 1975Eli Black's death and the 'Bananagate' bribery scandal
- 2007Chiquita pleads guilty to paying Colombian paramilitaries, fined $25 million
- June 10, 2024Federal jury finds Chiquita liable, orders $38.3 million to victims' families
Still debated
The death toll at the 1928 Ciénaga Banana Massacre remains contested, with estimates running from about 47 to about 2,000.
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