How Did The United Fruit Company Impact The Honduran Economy?

” United Fruit Company” and “Standard Fruit Company” which nowadays are called “Chiquita Brands International” and “Dole Foods International” respectively, had a huge impact on the Honduran history/economy. Marco Aurelio Soto and Ramon Rosa initiated the Honduran “Liberal Reform” in 1876 which opened the door to new foreign investors. One example of such investors were the Vaccaro Brothers, who eventually created the Standard Fruit Company, imported high-quality bananas from La Ceiba which they then shipped to New Orleans in large quantities. This allowed them to establish a company on the North Coast of Honduras. After seeing the Vaccaro Brothers’ success, many people started to migrate to the parts of Honduras that had been granted for use in growing bananas. They were more than just two ordinary brands that wanted to ship and sell their product overseas, they were pioneers who introduced a new commodity to the Honduran economy. But that would not be it, The United Fruit Company and the Standard Fruit Company also financed the political campaign of Tiburcio Carias Andino and promised the construction of railroads on the North Coast in exchange of many acres of land for their business when he reached office. After establishing themselves on the North Coast, Honduras began to export crates of bananas to the United States until

It was written by Dr. Adam Fenner, a member of the History Department of Andrews University and Director of the Adventist Learning Community. Dr. Fenner has also published other articles such as “The Path to Favor: Tiburcio Carias Andino and the United States, 1923-1941” (629) which also depicts how Carias was used by the companies to achieve wealth. These documents make us question the intent of the American Banana Companies. Were all the actions of the companies oriented towards the development of the country or fulfilling their own selfish