Bananas How the United Fruit Company Shaped The World - Book Report/Review Example

It imported bananas from South American countries. The company enjoyed a wide base of operations and links to power. United Fruits Company started its operations in the jungles of Costa Rica to grow and become a very influential corporation. It was significant in shaping the politics of countries in South America. The company institutionalized the greed that is commonly seen from the behavior of multinationals. It had a massive fleet of ships and controlled rail networks that shipped bananas to the awaiting ships.

Its resources outmatched those of rival banana companies in South America. It also had its own program for growing bananas. United Fruits Company sealed its plan to control the banana growing countries by seeking strong political links with Washington and regimes that had their interests in mind. It used more of the power it had from the government of the U.S to run its monopoly power (Chapman 56). Through its monopoly powers, it ensured that the costs of production were as low as possible through wage exploitations.

The countries that the country has its operations hugely depended on banana exports for survival. United fruit Company used this to their advantage. It helped coin the term “banana republics” by making sure that the countries such as Colombia, Honduras and Costa Rica were down to whatever they said for the sake of returns from the sale of bananas grown in the countries. “Banana countries” were poor and dependent on economic interventions such as those United Fruits Company had claimed to bring.

Chapman notes that Costa Rica is an example that removed itself from that tagging by alleviating poverty, protecting its land, developing efficient laws and improving education. By controlling the economy of the countries, the company would persuade the governments to act in the interest of the company. One severe and brutal case of political and economic