it is time to take one step further and face the. time to search the. fight for the truth. to overcome our dreams and contact the world it's time for t.w. . coming up ahead.

this is the story of a fruit a simple fruit available all year round all around the world. this is the story of a fruit on which an empire was built one of the 1st multinational ads in the united fruit company. i get ready near him by morning i get the blue beard and i look when i eat a banana day. ah this is the story of a fruit that changed the destiny of central america and gave its name to republics it became notorious it became the symbol of all that's wrong with american capitalism. this is a tale of economics and politics a story about globalization. this is the story of a fruit. a simple for the but now. for

her. it all began in 1871 when the government in costa rica asked a certain minor cooper keith from new york to build a railway it was to link the caribbean coast to the high plateau names through the jungle. but nothing went as planned. the jungle was merciless. that one accident scorpions malaria 4000 men died and just 40 kilometers of railway track were completed. and after a stock market crash those dried up. costa rica

could no longer pay its debts the railway remained on finished myna faced financial ruin. he didn't know then that fortune was right there at his feet in the human soil of the jungle in this simple fruit that fed his workers the banana. the. first the simple food of workers the banana appeared at the turn of the century at markets in the united states it was a prized delicacy expensive because it. is rare and perishable.

anyone who managed to transport it quickly enough before it could ripe and rot could turn it into gold. mine all recognize that very soon he was exporting bananas and he was saved from bankruptcy. he struck an agreement with the government in costa rica he would finish work on the railway in return he asked for the right to use the line and receive ownership of large plots of land. land to grow bananas. trains for transporting them quickly and cheaply. the foundation of his fortune. in a 299 my not entered a partnership with 2 men from boston he had the plantations and railways his

associates provided a fleet of ships and a distribution network across the u.s. on march the 30 year $899.00 they founded the united fruit company. by working to finance reform or to nationalize a company which owns and controls assets in more than one country i would say it's among the 1st of the multinationals in this kind of like primary commodity type of of of business and it's really taking the process of call integration to quite quite an extreme x. extent including you know constructing what's going to become one of the biggest shipping fleets in actually in in the world and integrating right down through to distribution in in the united. states so it's really quite quite

extreme at this time but they're pioneering in a more fundamental way because this company is actually creating a market for going on us as well as pioneering how to deliver the product to the consumer so in 890 nobody in the united states really knew what a banana was basically. by 914 you can buy been on as big american towns. tasty nourishing full of this image the united fruit company had a flair for promoting bananas. mothers with families was a target the company published recipes and paid pediatricians to praise the bananas nutritional values. very soon americans could no longer do

without them. 2 imported in huge quantities they were low in price and widely accessible. and i. was writing that book bananas a delicate storms floods and heatwaves regularly destroyed crops bananas threatened to become scarce. that was. that my. cat. mine and his associates knew they needed to grow ever more bananas over a much larger area right across central america the.

former spanish colonies these countries had won their independence of the beginning of the 19th century but the united states regarded them as a natural extension of its own market. for the united fruit company this was one single territory completely given over to growing by nona's. just as the united fruit company itself kept on growing. it needed more and more that. in panama and costa rica the local farmers were evicted.

by slashing the price is synonymous it grows small between sosa refused to give up their banana plantation into financial ruin step by step it took over hundreds of thousands of hectares of central america's best plan. to exact most of us here in california going on what they're in is exactly what happened during the land reforms in britain from the 16th until the 18th century. the british farmers were expropriated in the same way there's no other word for it. because immediately you the lands which they cultivated started to have fences put up around it. and by the 18th century they were forced to give up their workforce to the new factories. this was the origin of industry and economy as we know them today it was the beginning of modern day capitalism. that. life.

did the united fruit company introduced capitalism to central america. it certainly had a specific vision of development and progress from the start. the railway laid the foundation for miner to pick each huge wealth. for the young dangers of central america it was synonymous with modernity. guatemala wanted it found railway but the country was in debt when the price of coffee its primary resource. collapsed it became insolvent plans to build a railway were put on ice. in 1003. approached the one person who could help miner could but. he agreed to build

a railway in return as usual he demanded land for banana plantations have the right to operate the railway for his own needs he also acquired control over the country's main ports and the telegraph network. in other words guatemala gave away to the united fruit company its infrastructure its economy and its future in exchange for a railway. the company's empire grew to the detriment of the young nations in search of progress but with no resources and indebt. thanks all the money that's people the dirt of the poor helps line the pockets of the rich privatizing the entire public sector through the death mechanism is the act of expropriation of

common property that typically land for the profit of a limited few could mean to be one of. the banana growing nations in the caribbean also bound themselves one after the other to the company. each time the company managed to pay little or no chances in the countries in which is operated draining their resources even more and assuring their dependence. case that the united fruit. cadres were wonderful tax free concessions and things that honestly practically every western company all over latin america and asia had the same at the same conditions basically they had the bargaining power they

had the technological advantage and the money these places wanted them and the deal was very little taxes. in our age tax avoidance or tax planning as it as it's called in business schools has become a central feature of business globally and that's a quite different situation from when you know developing fragile states in the one $900.00 centuries we're offering low tax low taxes now it's the core of business. a multinational can easily avoid fiscal legislation in the sovereign states where it operates by using a method which is well known today transfer prices where profits show up in the countries with the lowest tax levels of body yuki's we prefer the latter this is a political issue do we want this money to be given back to the public authorities

to be used for the common good. or do we continue to allow our state's fiscal revenue to be siphoned off by multinationals but it is a global issue dissociatives on song up and it. has been known i had come a long way a simple fruit had led to an economic empire which became the forerunner of a modern day multinational. things. in his 1904 novel cabbages and kings the american writer oh henry. described a fictional state controlled by. creative expression a republic. should

fruit formed worlds of their own governed by the laws of the company. segregated societies. on the one side the graduate from the. university. and the foreman from the south of the united states who brought with them knowledge of slaves.

and american and clay in the tropics. an isolated social entity with way of life. a telegram dated 29th of may 1919 to the united fruit company head office last lot of labor as a bad. mostly criminal. useless laborers from costa rica panama and nicaragua. continue sending jamaican laborers.

the laborers on the plantations constituted the work force an entity which required organizing. the jamaicans were prize for their strength and enjoyment they were importing sentient speak in their tens of thousands from the island of jamaica and herded around from plantation to plantation. to no holds were relegated to domestic chores. the hispanics viewed with suspicion in. the company preferred uprooted isolated and dos our workers unions were forbidden the. entire council had to be billed by the company draw hours these workers sometimes trochu arms had

to be drained. the company avoided taxes but prided itself on creating entire villages in the jungle. entires the workers and their families. build clinics and hospitals. open schools where the labor is children. wages were often paid in vouchers which labor is could use only in the. companies own shops to buy food clothing furniture and tools.

but although the company controlled every moment in its employees lives to month started to be made for a 6 day week and an 8 hour working day unemployment benefits and salaries paid in cash. on rest was spreading and banana land. in october 1928 was that the son thomaso plantation in colombia went on strike. after negotiations failed workers occupied company buildings on the plantation. the colombian government sent in the army over a 1000 people died. the suppression of the sun tomato strikes became known as the banana massacre an important historical event for colombia and central america the symbol of state submission with use of its public forces in the interests of a foreign company

i was. from then on throughout the caribbean the united fruit company was simply referred to as the octopus. in june 1929 mile cooper keyes died in costa rica. he left behind a huge jump. passed with 100000 employees and over a 1000000 hectares of plantations. in 1910 he had bought up the british health ala fifes and gained access to the european market at the time of mine

a death united fruit company control 75 percent of the global ban on a trade. feel competitors existed but the united fruit company tolerated them in order to avoid the us north on monopolies. the coolio mellow fruit company was the company's main rival at its head was samuel's the marry. a tall and gruff man with a strong russian accent he was seen as a visionary capable of making bananas grow on the most hostile that. in 1910 he had overturned the government of honduras which had tried to get his way and he didn't hide the fact he became

a legend. his rags to riches story began on ellis island in 892. the money started out of the docks of mobile alabama ports on the gulf of mexico. he saw the united fruit ships on loading bananas and watch the traders that's where . he learned to spot the fruit no one else wanted the right bananas which weren't suitable for distant markets. he made a bulk purchase for next to nothing. he hired a wagon and over the following 3 days' journey through this. them states he sold his entire stock at the railway stations then asked for his 1st trip he and $40.00 .

sam of the bernardo man had arrived. samuel the mary challenge the indicted fruit company until finally his competition became too troublesome for them. in november $929.00 he accepted a merger united fruit bought out his company korea merrill samuel received $30000000.00 worth of united fruit company shares. if this made him one of the richest men in the united states and also united fruit biggest shareholder. in 1933 he dismissed the company's board of directors and took singlehanded control as one magazine headline portage budget owner who swallowed the whale. of a tree 56 years of age samuel summary was the uncontested king of bananas.

was an empire cannot stand still if it doesn't grow it fails. the 2nd world war froze international trade. 6 but the post-war era brought the promise of reconstruction economic growth and new markets for united fruits bananas summary found just the man to conquer these markets edward bernays a pioneer of his own kind and a must. of public relations and advertising. a van who could shape reality according to his client's wishes. in the 1920 s. edward bernays had persuaded american women to start smoking convincing them that

the cigarette was a torch of liberty the instrument of their emancipation. back then he was for the powerful american tobacco company. it is a book entitled propaganda edward bernays defended in his own words the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses by an enlightened minority. could it have been his uncle sigmund freud who helped him understand so well yawn that in a consumer society advertising was the key to creating consumer wishes which could be nurtured stimulated ad in for nice and. so samuel's the memory he made of a non other for you should the american dream. no you're right but mammals.

time to kill them and that count as they can and have a right and a certain way when they're playing with brown and have a golden new manager place the best and other there's a. chiquita banana became a household name. you know when i get my dear greenish way or looking in think you are ripe for cooking and to keep the man i am i have come a rarely generators way and the man that i am i have come to say that you really shouldn't treat a family man its weight if you like to be refined and. eating habits really are to blame. in shaquille bananas ideal world every banana looks the same and tasted the same

the company produced only one variety call me chef. tasty fruity and hearty but therefore exportable demand kept on growing. but it is not i'm not sure i am the right conditions for the one i'm most curious. it is also a mystery to pride also criticism that you're an open issue. on the plantations weakened by intensive monoculture to very much parasites were spreading panama disease and yellow sea. chiquita banana swaying hips couldn't hide the reality the empire was rotting probably a good size. samuel's a berry had tons of pesticide sprayed over the banana plants up to 30 times a year. those who

volunteered for the job received extra pay they were known as their vinen arrows the poisoned us. very soon their skin took on a blue chip they fell ill doesn't start. the lifetime of a plantation fell from 10 to 3 years those infected by parasites were abandoned. more jungle was cut down to create new plantations. it was as if united fruit had taken over the whole of central america believes. you believe. you're not producing forcing but it is remarkable because it is

a parable of the perverse effects of capitalism and the logic of accumulation after all the logic intrinsic to capitalism is the accumulation of capital of which there is no foreseeable end with the idea that the resources being used are endless. the ski resort of many freaked out at this example shows that the company should have realized that doing this was not in its interests to get at the other corporate mocking that you get people dying in a bid to maintain a machine which harms the environment and in regard to sustainability and economic sense is pointless if they couldn't make this happen or. schnabel seclusion in the end just have a self-perpetuating logic required someone who is in charge to 2nd and saying stop us remasters we need to do this differently or that it can't even feel good come on you got to. be over

before if you want to really look at him for what in very radical in 1944 a revolution in guatemala put an end to the 14 year rule of the dictator jorge will be calling. the ones i don't know i've got your forum on the what if you're a dictator was a good friend of the united fruit company. to be close saw himself as the reincarnation of napoleon. and fearing a loss of power had to bend to the use of the words strike petition and union. he believed in forced labor for the poorest and the lowest wages possible.

the contract c. signed with united fruit a highly favorable for the company. not a nationalist like you know different sorts stability for its for its investments democracies can be very unstable i mean there's a reason why multinational investment is very low in india and the reason is it's democracy where there are multiple parties is always sort of checking do you always negotiating everything and that's that's a veritable. nightmare for multinationals and they prefer to oppose a operate in china for example where provided the communist party approves of your activities you'll have a high degree of stability and things will basically you won't run into any sort of trouble so i think that i think that's what multinationals are after some sort of security on and stability and to imported taters or the communist party can give

you can give you that. with its promise of workers' rights and a minimum wage the guatemalan revolution no longer made the country vulnerable to united fruit. in 1951 democratic elections brought korbel arbenz to park. out of bed and set about putting into practice the 1st promise of the revolution amanda reform program which would redistribute the land of the large scale owners to small farmers. but at the top of the list of large earners with more than 2

thirds of the country's agricultural land was the united fruit company. president arbenz issued a decree to confiscate hundreds of thousands of hectares of land kept in reserve by the company. the indemnities were based on the company's low tax declarations which never revealed its real profits. never before had united fruit been challenged in this way. as a young man samuels a murray had overturned a troublesome government this time with their mercenaries at hand he once again turned to his p.r. genius edward bernays and told him to deal with outer bands. last few days was again to employ his talents of creating his own form of reality.

he set about making the protection of united fruits private interests in guatemala an issue for the u.s. government thanks. to. edward bernays was to create a fiction for 19 fifties america submerged in the cold war. was out of ecuador just occupied. kabul are bareness was a social democrat nationalist and reform. but nays depicted him as a communist true to moscow a face of the red peril which threatened america and the free world. but there's hope to win over public opinion. he opened the central american information bureau organized press visit and suggested articles to befriended publisher.

so bernays really are understood its you know it's not what is happening it's the story you tell about what is happening that that is that is the reality and that's something he was greatly admired in studied in nazi germany who carried part truth to another. to another level and now we've we see that in our present poured with. social networks and much else the story intensifying. with award severe consequences for for democracy but we could already see where we was going to lead with episodes like and i as i trued.

the time was right for edward bernays power play in january 953 dwight eisenhower became the new president of the united states. pozen har advocated a frontal offensive against communism. he placed to brothers in keepers john foster dulles became secretary of state allen dulles head of the cia both had been legal advisors to the united fruit company. the new ambassador to the united nations was senator henry cabot lodge a faithful lobbyist for the company's interests. its family were longstanding shareholders. they were all men with an open ear for edward bernays messages.

in august 1953 allen dulles the cia introduced new methods in iran it overturned the government of mohammad mosaddegh who had nationalized his country's petrol industry he was accused of communist conclusion. the success of the operation in iran convinced the eisenhower administration the cia was given a green light to intervene in guatemala. they operate. action was named success. edward bernays efforts were bearing frege.

the cia supported an opponent of the outer bands regime colonel custody you know out of my ass. he became leader of a national liberation army trained by the cia. the plantations of the united fruit company became really a guard base and. in june 1954 the capital of amman a city was born. overpowered how coble outer bands resigned on the 27th of june in a radio broadcast. of a us communism as an excuse. but the truth is different. in reality it's about financial interests. those of the united fruit company and other north american monopolies. they've invested in latin america they fear the example of

guatemala could spread to other nations. to becoming president with support from the united states custody you know out of mass cancelled the measures taken by the other been scarred. land reform was abandoned land was returned to united free. but neither stability nor security for life. after the coup what a mile i was thrown into a civil war that continued until 1996. it left more than 100000 dead a 1000000 displaced and tens of thousands missing. the maya indians were among the victims there was talk of genocide.

fearing financial loss the united fruit company blocked all reforms in guatemala taking into account the risk of fueling younger among the people. in january $959.00 cuban revolutionaries took advantage and overthrew the bettys to regime. evan estell che guevara fidel castro's ally was in guatemala. he had been radicalized by the overthrow of the cold war out of ben's he no longer believed in reform but in revolution. the e. in 1960 fidel castro nationalized all north american businesses.

the it was. cool the way we think i. this time both edward but there is an samuel of the murray were powerless. to marry died in 1961 his empire didn't outlive him for long the united fruit company disappeared in successive takeovers and mergers it was replaced by chiquita brands. infected by disease the call me share of bananas that had made united fruit rich disappeared at the end of the 60s. another banana emerged the cavendish. it had been developed by a small competitor soon to become an agricultural giant the new leader of the banana market.

appeal and. according to latest reports the cavendish banana may in its turn be on its way out. joan employees tried in vain to sue the company for poisoning by pesticides. she keeps her brands the heir to united fruit is facing court action accused of financing paramilitary groups in colombia. that was the story of a free simple free. i'm. certain way when they are around and. then i. am in

a. value and i was. bought up all the pain i was but by not microclimate the betty very proper. am. by its accounts helmets being the straw hats be transferred so many choices. another seems had. to. actually create. it explicitly to be extraordinary.

what secrets lie behind these memos. find most of experience and explore fascinating blonde cultural heritage science. the d w world heritage 360 because you feel. i'm not alone think out of the wild i just sometimes i am but i stand up english with the germans thinks deep into the german culture of looking at the stereotypes clad in years think the seas of the country that i don't. hear you don't see ridiculous grandmother day i don't believe it's all about. bob i'm rachel join me to meet the jetman from the w.

post. this is d w news live from the u.k. warns iran of serious consequences after iran seized a british oil tanker and emergency committee meets in london with the government saying that the situation must be resolved quickly iran's revolutionary guard says the stand that imperio has been taken to a port on its territory also coming up germany commemorates the final and best known attempt to assassinate adult hitler will have a special report on how some of his inner circle.