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Banana republic

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Banana republic is a pejorative term for a small, often Latin American, Caribbean or African country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique. In most cases they have kept the government structures that were modeled after the colonial Spanish ruling clique, with a small, largely leisure class on the top and a large, poorly educated and poorly paid working class of peons. The term was coined by O. Henry, an American humorist and short story writer, in reference to Honduras. "Republic" in his time was often a euphemism for a dictatorship, while "banana" implied an easy reliance on basic agriculture and backwardness in the development of modern industrial technology. Frequently the subject of mockery and humour, and usually presided over by a dictatorial military junta that exaggerates its own power and importance—"the epaulettes of a banana republic generalissimo" are proverbially of considerable size, usually portrayed in satire with a pair of mops—a banana republic also typically has large wealth and income inequities, poor infrastructure, poor schools, a backward economy, low capital spending, a reliance on foreign capital and money printing, budget deficits, and a weakening currency. Banana republics are typically also highly prone to revolutions and coups.

Background

It was in Honduras that the United Fruit and Standard Fruit companies dominated the country's key banana export sector and support sectors such as railways. The United Fruit Company was nicknamed "The Octopus" for its willingness to involve itself in politics, sometimes violently. In 1910, Sam Zemurray, who 22 years later would take over United Fruit in a hostile bid, hired a gang of armed toughs from New Orleans to help stage a coup in Honduras in order to obtain beneficial treatment from the new government for his own banana-trading company, Cuyamel Fruit. Four decades later, the directors of United Fruit played a role in convincing the Truman and Eisenhower administrations that the government of Colonel Arbenz in Guatemala was secretly pro-Soviet, thus contributing to the CIA's decision to assist in overthrowing Arbenz's government in 1954 (see Operation PBSUCCESS). Pablo Neruda would later denounce the dominance of foreign-owned banana producers in the politics of several Latin American countries in a poem titled "La United Fruit Co."

Modern usage

In modern usage the term has come to be used to describe a generally unstable or "backward" dictatorial regime, especially one where elections are often fraudulent and corruption is rife. By extension, the word is occasionally applied to governments where a strong leader hands out appointments and advantages to friends and supporters, without much consideration for the law. A banana republic can also be used to describe a country where a large part of its economy and politics are controlled by foreign powers or even corporations.

To some banana hobbyists located in the colder non-tropical growing areas, the term could also mean the warmest or most humid part of the province, country, growing area or locality.

Some Central American countries, like Belize, that export bananas to a specific client or set of clients as part of a continual agreement or previously agreed price are not banana republics in the way the phrase is defined above.

Australia

On 14 May 1986, the then Treasurer of Australia, Paul Keating, remarked during a radio interview with John Laws that Australia risked becoming a banana republic, referring to the size of the foreign debt relative to GDP.

United Kingdom

In 2005, Judge Richard Mawrey in the United Kingdom quashed results of election of two local councils after it was proved that there was widespread fraud and vote-rigging during the election. In response to the administration assertion that the Postal Voting system was functioning properly he said, "Anybody who has sat through the case I have just tried and listened to evidence of electoral fraud that would disgrace a banana republic would find this statement surprising."

In September 2007, CBI President Richard Lambert slammed the government and City authorities, blaming them for the Northern Rock crisis, claiming the run on the bank was "something that happens in a banana republic".

Pakistan

On 22 January 2008, President Musharraf responded to the turmoil in Pakistan, insisting his country was stable, "I can assure you that nothing will happen in Pakistan. We are not a banana republic."

In literature

  • San Theodoros and Nuevo Rico are fictional South American banana republics in the world of The Adventures of Tintin that display all the stereotypes one might expect of such countries. For instance, San Theodoros is constantly limping from revolution to revolution (often fueled by outside agents); and when Tintin first lands in San Theodoros, he immediately gets bestowed the rank of colonel in the army, leading to a protest of one of the many other colonels, because there are only ten corporals in the army. One of the main contenders for power, General Tapioca, is supported by an outside power based on Stalin's USSR; the other, General Alcazar, is supported by the "United Banana Co."

  • O. Henry's book of linked short stories Cabbages and Kings (1904), in which the term "banana republic" first appeared, is set in the fictional republic of Anchuria—a thinly disguised Honduras.

  • Joseph Conrad's 1904 novel Nostromo is set in Costaguana, a fictional South American banana republic that is also prone to revolution. Much political power is held by a foreign mining company.

  • Leslie Charteris's character The Saint uses guile and his art of disguise to overthrow a corrupt and oppressive banana republic in one of his stories. In it, he sometimes poses as an old man who creates and trains a rebel army of saboteurs that brings the villains to their knees. In true Saint fashion, after he rescues his love interest and her father from the clutches of the dictator, the elated peasants march through the streets singing the "international song of freedom" he had taught them: "I've Got a Luverly Bunch of Coconuts".

  • Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut largely takes place in a fictional banana republic, the island of San Lorenzo.

  • In DC Comics, the Caribbean island nation of Santa Prisca is subject to political turmoil caused by the competition of powerful local drug lords and a violent military junta.

  • Ciudad Barranquilla, the South American equivalent of the Mega-Cities in Judge Dredd, is a stereotyped banana republic. The residents of Mega-City One refer to it as "Banana City".

  • Kirk Anderson's cartoon series Banana Republic satirizes American and Minnesota politics in strips set in "Amnesia, the small backward Third World nation with hearts of silver and mines of gold".

  • Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (particularly chapters 12 through 16) narrates the influences of a banana company's disproportionate influence on the local and national governments and the subsequent ruin it brings to the fictional town of Macondo, Colombia. The majority of the banana workers are eventually massacred, drawing comparisons to similar events in Colombia and other Latin American countries.

In games

  • The board game Junta is based on a banana republic.
  • The computer game Tropico simulates a Caribbean island, which the player rules as "El Presidente".
  • The board game Banana Republic satirizes a small country where each player is one province's Rebel Leader who connives to become President for Life.

In film

In music

In the song "The Ruler of the Land" from 'Keating! the Musical', the backing singers at the end of the song chant "Banana Republic Man" over and over in reference to former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating's infamous remark on an Sydney radio station that Australia was in danger of becoming a banana republic

See also

External links



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Last updated on Monday March 10, 2008 at 15:28:20 PDT (GMT -0700)
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