31 Dec 2021 1:21 am
Okay. Well mind you this specific geographic region and its history isn't my strongest area of understanding. I know a bit and I'm well versed in geopolitics and what was going on in a global sense throughout this period of time. So bear with me, and since you kind of gave a general focus lets examine just a little piece from the beginning.
1st- On what basis do you believe that ANYONE who played a role in the United Fruit Company "controls or ever controlled our economy"? Off-hand this is just not plausible. The importance of banana's as a share of our economy was almost imperceptible throughout the period detailed. It has never been a vital commodity in the US. It was vital to the United Fruit company and to these Latin American countries at times but never even a good investment in the US (i.e. highly profitable). Note this is pre-Keynesian so we have sketchy data on the vitals (i.e. company financial data).
Originally involvement was predicated by what? You had many nascent Central American nations constantly under threat attempting to establish various forms of government. This was a tropical and almost completely undeveloped region in an economic sense. Extremely difficult terrain with ZERO infrastructure. 3rd world even by 1870's standards. It was sparsely populated by Latin and indigenous Indians. literacy estimates indicate there was a 0% literacy rate in 1870's (meaning so low it isn't measured). Even today Guatemala has the lowest literacy rate in the world at less than 30%. They also have some of the worst infrastructure in the world. None in the early stages of UF involvement. So you have to be able to envision what the situation was.
1st- On what basis do you believe that ANYONE who played a role in the United Fruit Company "controls or ever controlled our economy"? Off-hand this is just not plausible. The importance of banana's as a share of our economy was almost imperceptible throughout the period detailed. It has never been a vital commodity in the US. It was vital to the United Fruit company and to these Latin American countries at times but never even a good investment in the US (i.e. highly profitable). Note this is pre-Keynesian so we have sketchy data on the vitals (i.e. company financial data).
Originally involvement was predicated by what? You had many nascent Central American nations constantly under threat attempting to establish various forms of government. This was a tropical and almost completely undeveloped region in an economic sense. Extremely difficult terrain with ZERO infrastructure. 3rd world even by 1870's standards. It was sparsely populated by Latin and indigenous Indians. literacy estimates indicate there was a 0% literacy rate in 1870's (meaning so low it isn't measured). Even today Guatemala has the lowest literacy rate in the world at less than 30%. They also have some of the worst infrastructure in the world. None in the early stages of UF involvement. So you have to be able to envision what the situation was.