Counterattack by the “banana republic” – Honduran struggle against US usurpation

Tegucigalpa. In the city of La Lima, Honduras, there is a reception center for repatriated immigrants that almost daily receives more than a hundred Hondurans deported from the United States.

The rise of illegal immigration has become one of the central issues in this year’s US presidential elections. US politicians have accused Honduras and other Central American countries of being “exporters of illegal immigrants.”

However, until a solution is found to extreme poverty in these countries, the problem of illegal immigration in the United States will be difficult to eradicate.

Looking back in history, the United States bears an undeniable responsibility for the long-standing poverty of countries like Honduras. Honduras was once referred to as a “banana republic,” serving as an “oasis” for uncontrolled U.S. capital and a “cage” in which impoverished local workers were trapped.

A Pandora’s Box Full of Bananas

In 1870, an American captain named Lorenzo Baker brought a shipment of bananas from Jamaica and sold them in New Jersey. Since then, bananas have been one of the most sold fruits in the United States and numerous trading companies were created to transport the fruit from Central America and the Caribbean to the United States.

In the early 20th century, US corporations such as the Cuyamel Fruit Company obtained concession rights to vast lands in Honduras.

From the late 19th to the early 20th century, with multiple armed interventions and instigated coups d’état, US capital gradually took control of Honduras’s main economic sectors.

U.S. companies such as the Cuyamel Fruit Company occupied vast lands in northern Honduras, building large-scale banana plantations and controlling vital economic sectors such as transportation, electricity and manufacturing.

By 1913, more than 90 percent of Honduras’ foreign trade was monopolized by the United States. Under the monopolistic control of U.S. multinational corporations, Honduras developed an economic structure highly concentrated around banana production and became heavily dependent on imports for essential goods such as food, resulting in a vulnerable economy.

“We must make a break in the incipient economy of this country to increase its difficulties and facilitate our objectives. We must prolong its tragic, turbulent and revolutionary life,” wrote H.V. Rolston, then vice president of the Cuyamel Fruit Company, in a July 1920 letter.

Estevan Elvir, now 91, once worked on banana plantations in the Sula Valley in northern Honduras and remembers that American companies had complete control. Workers received their salaries from the Americans and spent everything in company-run stores.

Elvir said that working conditions there were extremely poor and that workers were frequently beaten, some even killed. “No one could complain or file a complaint because the manager had more power than the President of the Republic himself,” he said.

In fact, the United Fruit Company came to control the economic livelihood of several Central American countries. By exploiting railroad companies, the fruit company acquired vast lands along the railroad lines and freely used local resources such as wood.

Eugenio Sosa, director of the National Institute of Statistics of Honduras, told Xinhua that “one of the promises of these companies is that they would build a national railway that would cross the entire country, but they did not fulfill their promise and only built a few branches. The railway did not go any further and never managed to cross the entire country.”

“The other characteristic is the influence that American companies began to have in politics. They practically installed and removed presidents because several strong companies exercised control. If a company did not do well with the government, an armed group was formed, sponsored by another government, there was electoral fraud and the government was overthrown, which, in this way, caused a lot of political instability,” said Sosa.

Transformative strike

Photo Xinhua

In the early 1930s, the United States sought to expand its overseas markets. Previous policies of “dollar diplomacy” and “big stick” had created strong anti-American sentiments in Latin America. To counter this, the United States introduced the “good neighbor policy,” which, despite its intention to promote “equality” and “non-interference,” continued to exert control over the region.

In the midst of U.S. exploitation, plunder, and interference, the people of Honduras continued to resist. In the early 20th century, Honduran workers repeatedly went on strike to demand higher wages and better working conditions.

Elvir remembers the treatment that striking workers received: “At best they faced prison sentences; at worst, they disappeared. After four or five days, we found their bodies in the Ulúa or Chamelecón rivers, submerged with stones or railings to keep them submerged.”

In April 1954, dockworkers in the municipality of Tela threatened to strike over wages. In May, workers in the mining, railway, textile and tobacco industries, as well as banana plantation workers, farmers and smallholders from northern Honduras joined the protest.

The massive strike lasted more than 60 days and ended in victory for the workers, as most of their demands were met.

“The 1954 strike was our second independence after our declaration of independence in 1821,” said Andres Alvarez, an 87-year-old retired Honduran train driver. “Before that, calling Honduras an independent and sovereign country was a lie,” he said. “After the strike, our working conditions and benefits improved a lot.”

Beginning in 1975, the Honduran government cancelled all concessions and contracts with U.S. banana companies and nationalized some of the lands that the United States controlled.

Honduras also took over U.S.-controlled docks and railroads, gaining control of banana production, transportation, and sales. These steps marked the beginning of Honduras’s recovery of sovereignty and the building of its national economy.

“The anti-imperialist struggle of our people is historic and has also been linked to the workers’ movements,” former President Manuel Zelaya, also a presidential adviser, told Xinhua. “The struggle is where what we have today in Honduras comes from.”

Photo Xinhua

“Flagrant injustice”

However, for the people of Honduras, the injustices have not come to an end.

“Americans enjoy privileges in our country, while in the United States they treat us like dogs. It is a blatant injustice,” said Juan Manuel Guerra, his voice shaking as tears filled his eyes. Before being recently deported by U.S. authorities, the 57-year-old Honduran had been living in the United States for five years.

During their stay in US immigration detention centres, most migrants experience inhumane treatment. “I felt like I had been kidnapped. I was there for 17 days and my family had no idea about my situation. (US authorities) did not allow me to make phone calls and I was completely isolated from the outside world. I slept on the floor every day until I was released,” said Bernard, a 25-year-old Honduran who did not want to give his last name.

“Poverty, disease, weakness, exploitation… This is what American companies have left behind. On the contrary, they have taken the wealth from here. Honduras is the fifth richest country in Latin America in terms of resources, but now it is the second poorest country in Latin America,” said Elvir.

On June 28, 2009, a military coup took place in Honduras, forcing then-President Zelaya to resign. For nearly half a year afterwards, the political situation in Honduras remained turbulent. Reports suggested that the United States was involved in the coup, after which the Honduran people who had resisted faced repression and displacement. Violence and poverty forced some to seek refuge in the United States.

Zelaya said that many of the political coups of the 20th century in Latin America and the Caribbean were related to the interests of US multinational companies.

“I once asked a senior U.S. official if the United States had a manual for instigating coups. He told me that there was no such manual, but four manuals for instigating coups, and that another one is currently being prepared,” Zelaya said.

Photo Xinhua

Unity and awakening

In late 2021, Xiomara Castro, Zelaya’s wife, was elected the first female president in the history of Honduras. After taking office, Castro began to change the oligarchic political situation, which was supported by external forces.

Despite persistent pressure from the United States, the Honduran government showed resilience and formally forged diplomatic ties with China in March 2023. During his visit to China three months later, Castro said that Honduras firmly supports and abides by the one-China principle, and firmly believes that friendly cooperation with Beijing will bring Honduras more and better development opportunities.

“Cooperating with China not only contributes to Honduras’ economic development, but also reflects its independence and autonomy in the new international order,” said Allan Fajardo, a professor at the National Autonomous University of Honduras.

Castro has pledged to strengthen regional integration and democracy, and to advocate for the construction of a more just, equitable and prosperous region. Honduras has actively spoken out against external interference in the Haiti crisis and has mediated in the diplomatic conflict between Ecuador and Mexico.

Zelaya said Castro’s election as Honduras’ first female president and the decision to establish diplomatic relations with China “signify the creation of a new era.”

“Our country is actively participating in the development of the Global South,” Zelaya said.

Sandra Deras, CEO of Nana Banana Honduras, highlighted the transition from US-owned banana plantations to a majority of Honduran-operated companies on more than 50,000 hectares of banana plantations in Honduras. “We are the owners of this land, the owners of the resources of the banana plantations and we always prioritize the interests of the Honduran people,” said Deras.

Currently, most of the bananas produced by the company are destined to meet the demand of the domestic market. Deras stressed that planting one hectare of bananas can provide employment opportunities for two families and that, as a developing country, Honduras needs to create more job opportunities to prevent emigration to the United States.

Today, Honduras is seeking new development opportunities and international status by collaborating with the Global South, marking a step forward from a so-called “banana republic” to a more independent and diversified nation, Fajardo said.