Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
By 1950, the United Fruit Company's (now Chiquita) annual profits were 65 million U.S. dollars, [b] twice as large as the revenue of the government of Guatemala. [54] The company was the largest landowner in Guatemala, [ 55 ] and virtually owned Puerto Barrios , Guatemala's only port to the Atlantic , allowing it to profit from the flow of ...
In 1901, the government of Guatemala hired the United Fruit Company to manage the country's postal service, and in 1913 the United Fruit Company created the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company. By 1930, it had absorbed more than 20 rival firms, acquiring a capital of $215 million and becoming the largest employer in Central America.
Several factors besides the lobbying campaign of the United Fruit Company led the United States to launch the coup that toppled Árbenz in 1954. The US government had grown more suspicious of the Guatemalan Revolution as the Cold War developed and the Guatemalan government clashed with US corporations on an increasing number of issues. [100]
The United Fruit Company was formed on March 30, 1899, the result of a merger between the nearly bankrupt Tropical Trading and Transport Company and Boston Fruit. On its formation, United Fruit
In the same year, a US-funded railroad was built in Guatemala to benefit the company. [9] During this period, United Fruit Company was known for its aggressive and exploitative practices in its operations in Central America. [5] In 1913 the United Fruit Company created the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company. [10]
Ed Whitman, who was United Fruit's principal lobbyist, was married to President Eisenhower's personal secretary, Ann C. Whitman. [14] These are simply a few of the individuals who influenced U.S. foreign policy towards Guatemala that had ties to the United Fruit Company. [14] Dulles received direct communications from contacts in Guatemala. [15]
The United Fruit Company responded with intensive lobbying of members of the United States government, leading many US congressmen and senators to criticize the Guatemalan government for not protecting the interests of the company. [65] The Guatemalan government responded by saying that the company was the main obstacle to progress in the country.
In May 1952, Árbenz enacted Decree 900, the official title of the Guatemalan agrarian reform law. [24] Approximately 500,000 people benefited from the decree. [25] The United Fruit Company lost several hundred thousand acres of its uncultivated land to this law, and the compensation it received was based on the undervalued price it had presented to the Guatemalan government for tax purposes. [17]