Banana republic
Banana republic is a pejorative name for a country which has an unstable government, high corruption and which largely depends on agriculture, such as growing bananas.[1] There are many coups in banana republics. Some countries in Central and South America are often called banana republics.
The 'original' Banana republic is Honduras. In the early 20th century the United Fruit Company had very much influence in the country. They even deposed a president and installed a new one because the old president wanted too high taxes.[2]
The first known use of the term banana republic was by American author O. Henry in his 1904 book of linked short stories, Cabbages and Kings. The book is based on Henry's 1896-97 stay in Honduras, while hiding from federal authorities for embezzlement in the United States.[3] O.Henry used the term to refer to a "servile dictatorship" which directly supported large-scale plantation agriculture in return for payments or gifts.[1] Usually, the agriculture was to grow bananas.
Some people say the coup against Jacobo Arbenz, president of Guatemala, in 1954 was because Arbenz took land from banana companies.[source?]
The Banana Republic is the name of a clothing company in the United States.
[change] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Big-business greed killing the banana - Independent, via The New Zealand Herald, Saturday 24 May 2008, Page A19
- ↑ Alison Acker, Honduras, The Making of a Banana Republic. Between the Lines, 1988.
- ↑ Chapman, Peter. Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World, Cannongate, New York, 2008; pp. 68-69, 108 ("O. Henry was the first to use the term 'banana republic'...").
