United Fruit Company - Revision history

General-KJ: Minor changes

2026-08-24T11:00:49Z

Minor changes

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:00, 24 August 2026
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	~~[[File:Workers loading bananas into railway cars circa 1921.png~~\|~~alt~~=A black and white photo of workers loading bananas into railway cars. People stand in different positions around a rail car with large bundles of bananas around them.\|thumb\|A photo from a 1921 publication by the United Fruit Company ~~showing workers loading bananas into railway cars.]]~~		{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|image=United Fruit Company flag.svg.png\|caption=House flag\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}
	~~{{Infobox company~~\|~~name~~=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}

	The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in [[Central America]]. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>		The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation that traded in tropical fruit and held a virtual [[monopoly]] on bananas. The company was deeply involved in [[United States imperialism\|U.S. imperialism]] and was responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in [[Central America]]. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>[[File:Workers loading bananas into railway cars circa 1921.png\|alt=A black and white photo of workers loading bananas into railway cars. People stand in different positions around a rail car with large bundles of bananas around them.\|thumb\|A photo from a 1921 publication by the United Fruit Company showing workers loading bananas into railway cars.]]{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}

	{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}

	== History ==		== History ==
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	== References ==		== References ==
			[[Category:Companies based in the United States]]
	[[Category:Imperialist companies]]		[[Category:Imperialist companies]]
	[[Category:Neocolonialism]]		[[Category:Neocolonialism]]

Verda.Majo: added image, expanded history section, added source

2026-08-24T08:44:51Z

added image, expanded history section, added source

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:44, 24 August 2026
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			[[File:Workers loading bananas into railway cars circa 1921.png\|alt=A black and white photo of workers loading bananas into railway cars. People stand in different positions around a rail car with large bundles of bananas around them.\|thumb\|A photo from a 1921 publication by the United Fruit Company showing workers loading bananas into railway cars.]]
	{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}		{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}

	The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>		The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in [[Central America]]. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>

	{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}		{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}
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	The United Fruit Company was founded in 1899 with the merger of the [[Boston Fruit Company]] owned by [[Lorenzo Dow Baker]] and [[Andrew Preston]], and the railroad company of [[Minor C. Keith]], who planted bananas along his company's railways.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Chiquita\|title=The Chiquita Story\|url=https://www.chiquita.com/the-chiquita-story/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Web citation\|author=Kassandre Dwyer\|newspaper=The Collector\|title=Bananas & Brutality: The Twisted History of United Fruit\|date=2024-11-30\|url=https://www.thecollector.com/twisted-history-united-fruit-bananas/}}</ref>		The United Fruit Company was founded in 1899 with the merger of the [[Boston Fruit Company]] owned by [[Lorenzo Dow Baker]] and [[Andrew Preston]], and the railroad company of [[Minor C. Keith]], who planted bananas along his company's railways.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Chiquita\|title=The Chiquita Story\|url=https://www.chiquita.com/the-chiquita-story/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Web citation\|author=Kassandre Dwyer\|newspaper=The Collector\|title=Bananas & Brutality: The Twisted History of United Fruit\|date=2024-11-30\|url=https://www.thecollector.com/twisted-history-united-fruit-bananas/}}</ref>

	By 1905, United Fruit controlled land in [[Republic of Guatemala\|Guatemala]], [[Republic of Nicaragua\|Nicaragua]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]], [[Republic of Costa Rica\|Costa Rica]], and [[Republic of Honduras\|Honduras]].<ref name=":1" />		By 1905, United Fruit controlled land in [[Republic of Guatemala\|Guatemala]], [[Republic of Nicaragua\|Nicaragua]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]], [[Republic of Costa Rica\|Costa Rica]], and [[Republic of Honduras\|Honduras]].<ref name=":1" />

			By 1921, United Fruit's "Tropical Divisions" operated in [[Republic of Colombia\|Colombia]], Costa Rica, [[Republic of Cuba\|Cuba]], Guatemala, Honduras, [[Jamaica]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]] and the [[Canary Islands]]. Its US-based divisions included activity in [[Boston]], [[New York City\|New York]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Baltimore]], [[New Orleans]], [[Mobile]] and [[Galveston]].<ref name=":3">{{Citation\|year=1921\|title=The Story of the Banana\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/storyofbanana00unit/\|publisher=United Fruit Company}}</ref>

			The company described some of its assets in 1921, writing:<blockquote>[The United Fruit Company] owns 1,505,000 acres of land, of which over 350,000 are cultivated. In addition, it leases 124,000 acres of land, of which 27,500 are cultivated. It operates 1,200 miles of railroad and over 3,500 miles of telephone and telegraph lines. It owns and operates in Jamaica two of the finest and most modern hotels in conjunction with its passenger business. It owns 32,500 head of cattle and 8,000 horses and mules. [...] [The company's] steamships furnish regular passenger, mail and freight service between the Atlantic ports of the United States and Cuba, Jamaica and the Atlantic ports of Central America and Colombia, and, through the connecting lines at the Panama Canal, with the west coast ports of South America. In other words, the “Great White Fleet” directly serves nine countries of the Western Hemisphere and is a prime factor in the commerce of twenty-three nations of that hemisphere. During the past ten years its fleet has carried 560,000 passengers and moved 13,960,000 tons of freight. It ordinarily uses about ninety steamships in connection with its business (including its chartered steamers and English fleet). Of the twenty-nine steamships owned by the Company and now in service, nineteen are refrigerator banana cargo and passenger ships, eight are refrigerator banana cargo ships, one is a non-refrigerator banana cargo ship, and one is an oil tanker.<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>The company also claimed to have rendered what it called the "fever-ridden swamps and jungles" of Central America and the [[Atlantic Ocean\|Atlantic]] coast into "modern, sanitary and healthy communities", crediting itself with this due to its installation and maintenance of waterworks, sewerage systems and electric light plants in various locations.<ref name=":3" />

	United Fruit made [[Company town\|company towns]] and paid workers in [[scrip]] to be used at the [[company store]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Peter Chapman\|year=2007\|title=Bananas: how the United Fruit Company shaped the world\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/bananashowunited0000chap/\|publisher=Canongate Books}}</ref>		United Fruit made [[Company town\|company towns]] and paid workers in [[scrip]] to be used at the [[company store]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Peter Chapman\|year=2007\|title=Bananas: how the United Fruit Company shaped the world\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/bananashowunited0000chap/\|publisher=Canongate Books}}</ref>

Verda.Majo: minor expansion to history section and mentioned name change to chiquita

2026-08-19T06:11:16Z

minor expansion to history section and mentioned name change to chiquita

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:11, 19 August 2026
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	{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}		{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}

	The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''', was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref>		The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>

	{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}		{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}
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	[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />		[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />

			The [[Union of Banana Exporting Countries]] (UPEB) was formed in 1974.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations\|newspaper=AGROVOC Multilingual Thesaurus\|title=UPEB\|url=https://agrovoc.fao.org/browse/agrovoc/en/page/c_33565\|quote=The Union of Banana Exporting Countries (Spanish: Unión de Países Exportadores de Banano or UPEB) was a cartel of Central and South American banana exporting countries established in 1974, inspired by OPEC. Its aim was to achieve better remuneration from the North American banana trade oligopoly, which consisted of three US companies. It ceased functioning in 1975.}}</ref>

			In 1975, then-chairman of United Brands, [[Eli M. Black]], fell to his death from his office on the 44th floor of the [[Pan Am]] building in [[New York City]], with his death deemed a suicide.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Peter Kihss\|newspaper=The New York Times\|title=44‐Story Plunge Kills Head of United Brands\|date=1975-02-04\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/04/archives/44story-plunge-kills-head-of-united-brands-united-brands-head.html}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=United Fruit Company History Project\|title=The Life and Theatrical Death of Eli Black\|url=https://www.unitedfruitcompany.com/biographies/the-life-and-theatrical-death-of-eli-black}}</ref>

			In 1990, the company's name was changed to Chiquita Brands International, basing the name on the long time mascot of United Fruit and United Brands.<ref name=":2" />

	== Operations by country ==		== Operations by country ==

Verda.Majo: minor expansion and added more sources

2026-08-18T08:04:17Z

minor expansion and added more sources

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:04, 18 August 2026
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	== History ==		== History ==
	[[File:Routes of the United Fruit Company's Great White Fleet.jpg\|alt=A map showing parts of North and Central America with highlighted routes throughout the Caribbean Sea, with some in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific.\|thumb\|An image showing routes of the "Great White Fleet" of ships of the United Fruit Company which transported the company's products as well as passengers.]]		[[File:Routes of the United Fruit Company's Great White Fleet.jpg\|alt=A map showing parts of North and Central America with highlighted routes throughout the Caribbean Sea, with some in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific.\|thumb\|An image showing routes of the "Great White Fleet" of ships of the United Fruit Company which transported the company's products as well as passengers.]]
			The United Fruit Company was founded in 1899 with the merger of the [[Boston Fruit Company]] owned by [[Lorenzo Dow Baker]] and [[Andrew Preston]], and the railroad company of [[Minor C. Keith]], who planted bananas along his company's railways.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Chiquita\|title=The Chiquita Story\|url=https://www.chiquita.com/the-chiquita-story/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Web citation\|author=Kassandre Dwyer\|newspaper=The Collector\|title=Bananas & Brutality: The Twisted History of United Fruit\|date=2024-11-30\|url=https://www.thecollector.com/twisted-history-united-fruit-bananas/}}</ref>

			By 1905, United Fruit controlled land in [[Republic of Guatemala\|Guatemala]], [[Republic of Nicaragua\|Nicaragua]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]], [[Republic of Costa Rica\|Costa Rica]], and [[Republic of Honduras\|Honduras]].<ref name=":1" />

			United Fruit made [[Company town\|company towns]] and paid workers in [[scrip]] to be used at the [[company store]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Peter Chapman\|year=2007\|title=Bananas: how the United Fruit Company shaped the world\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/bananashowunited0000chap/\|publisher=Canongate Books}}</ref>

	[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />		[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />

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	=== Guatemala ===		=== Guatemala ===
	The United Fruit Company had a monopoly over bananas in ~~[[Republic of~~ Guatemala~~\|Guatemala]]~~ and controlled the country's telephones, telegraphs, railroads, and its only [[Atlantic Ocean\|Atlantic]] port. In the early 1950s, President [[Jacobo Árbenz]] expropriated much of its land. He offered the company compensation, but the value was based on what it paid in taxes and was about 1/30th of what it was really worth. In March 1953, the company gave right-wing military officers $64,000 to fund a CIA-backed uprising against Árbenz. After the 1954 coup against Árbenz, the company regained all the land it lost in the land reform and banned banana workers' [[Trade union\|unions]].<ref name=":12" />		The United Fruit Company had a monopoly over bananas in Guatemala and controlled the country's telephones, telegraphs, railroads, and its only [[Atlantic Ocean\|Atlantic]] port. In the early 1950s, President [[Jacobo Árbenz]] expropriated much of its land. He offered the company compensation, but the value was based on what it paid in taxes and was about 1/30th of what it was really worth. In March 1953, the company gave right-wing military officers $64,000 to fund a CIA-backed uprising against Árbenz. After the 1954 coup against Árbenz, the company regained all the land it lost in the land reform and banned banana workers' [[Trade union\|unions]].<ref name=":12" />

	== References ==		== References ==
	[[Category:Imperialist companies]]		[[Category:Imperialist companies]]
	[[Category:Neocolonialism]]		[[Category:Neocolonialism]]

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	== History ==		== History ==
			[[File:Routes of the United Fruit Company's Great White Fleet.jpg\|alt=A map showing parts of North and Central America with highlighted routes throughout the Caribbean Sea, with some in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific.\|thumb\|An image showing routes of the "Great White Fleet" of ships of the United Fruit Company which transported the company's products as well as passengers.]]
	[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />		[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />

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	{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}		{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}

	The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''', was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref>		The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''', was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref>

			{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}

			== History ==
			[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" />

	== Operations by country ==		== Operations by country ==

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	The '''United Fruit Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref>		{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}

			The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''', was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref>

	== Operations by country ==		== Operations by country ==

Ledlecreeper27: Created

2022-10-12T18:44:30Z

Created

New page

The '''United Fruit Company''' was a [[United States of America|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation|author=William Blum|year=2003|title=Killing Hope|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched|page=74–80|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf|city=London|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=1842773682}}</ref>

== Operations by country ==

=== Guatemala ===
The United Fruit Company had a monopoly over bananas in [[Republic of Guatemala|Guatemala]] and controlled the country's telephones, telegraphs, railroads, and its only [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] port. In the early 1950s, President [[Jacobo Árbenz]] expropriated much of its land. He offered the company compensation, but the value was based on what it paid in taxes and was about 1/30th of what it was really worth. In March 1953, the company gave right-wing military officers $64,000 to fund a CIA-backed uprising against Árbenz. After the 1954 coup against Árbenz, the company regained all the land it lost in the land reform and banned banana workers' [[Trade union|unions]].<ref name=":12" />

== References ==
[[Category:Imperialist companies]]
[[Category:Neocolonialism]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:44, 24 August 2026
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			[[File:Workers loading bananas into railway cars circa 1921.png\|alt=A black and white photo of workers loading bananas into railway cars. People stand in different positions around a rail car with large bundles of bananas around them.\|thumb\|A photo from a 1921 publication by the United Fruit Company showing workers loading bananas into railway cars.]]
	{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}		{{Infobox company\|name=United Fruit Company\|founding_date=March 30, 1899\|industry=[[Agriculture]]\|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]\|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)\|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}}

	The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>		The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America\|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in [[Central America]]. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress\|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State\|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation\|author=William Blum\|year=2003\|title=Killing Hope\|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched\|page=74–80\|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf\|city=London\|publisher=Zed Books\|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Rich Cohen\|year=2012\|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation\|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives\|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...\|date=1990-02-28\|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html\|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref>

	{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}		{{Quote\|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.\|Rich Cohen\|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King\|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}}
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	The United Fruit Company was founded in 1899 with the merger of the [[Boston Fruit Company]] owned by [[Lorenzo Dow Baker]] and [[Andrew Preston]], and the railroad company of [[Minor C. Keith]], who planted bananas along his company's railways.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Chiquita\|title=The Chiquita Story\|url=https://www.chiquita.com/the-chiquita-story/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Web citation\|author=Kassandre Dwyer\|newspaper=The Collector\|title=Bananas & Brutality: The Twisted History of United Fruit\|date=2024-11-30\|url=https://www.thecollector.com/twisted-history-united-fruit-bananas/}}</ref>		The United Fruit Company was founded in 1899 with the merger of the [[Boston Fruit Company]] owned by [[Lorenzo Dow Baker]] and [[Andrew Preston]], and the railroad company of [[Minor C. Keith]], who planted bananas along his company's railways.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Chiquita\|title=The Chiquita Story\|url=https://www.chiquita.com/the-chiquita-story/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Web citation\|author=Kassandre Dwyer\|newspaper=The Collector\|title=Bananas & Brutality: The Twisted History of United Fruit\|date=2024-11-30\|url=https://www.thecollector.com/twisted-history-united-fruit-bananas/}}</ref>

	By 1905, United Fruit controlled land in [[Republic of Guatemala\|Guatemala]], [[Republic of Nicaragua\|Nicaragua]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]], [[Republic of Costa Rica\|Costa Rica]], and [[Republic of Honduras\|Honduras]].<ref name=":1" />		By 1905, United Fruit controlled land in [[Republic of Guatemala\|Guatemala]], [[Republic of Nicaragua\|Nicaragua]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]], [[Republic of Costa Rica\|Costa Rica]], and [[Republic of Honduras\|Honduras]].<ref name=":1" />

			By 1921, United Fruit's "Tropical Divisions" operated in [[Republic of Colombia\|Colombia]], Costa Rica, [[Republic of Cuba\|Cuba]], Guatemala, Honduras, [[Jamaica]], [[Republic of Panama\|Panama]] and the [[Canary Islands]]. Its US-based divisions included activity in [[Boston]], [[New York City\|New York]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Baltimore]], [[New Orleans]], [[Mobile]] and [[Galveston]].<ref name=":3">{{Citation\|year=1921\|title=The Story of the Banana\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/storyofbanana00unit/\|publisher=United Fruit Company}}</ref>

			The company described some of its assets in 1921, writing:<blockquote>[The United Fruit Company] owns 1,505,000 acres of land, of which over 350,000 are cultivated. In addition, it leases 124,000 acres of land, of which 27,500 are cultivated. It operates 1,200 miles of railroad and over 3,500 miles of telephone and telegraph lines. It owns and operates in Jamaica two of the finest and most modern hotels in conjunction with its passenger business. It owns 32,500 head of cattle and 8,000 horses and mules. [...] [The company's] steamships furnish regular passenger, mail and freight service between the Atlantic ports of the United States and Cuba, Jamaica and the Atlantic ports of Central America and Colombia, and, through the connecting lines at the Panama Canal, with the west coast ports of South America. In other words, the “Great White Fleet” directly serves nine countries of the Western Hemisphere and is a prime factor in the commerce of twenty-three nations of that hemisphere. During the past ten years its fleet has carried 560,000 passengers and moved 13,960,000 tons of freight. It ordinarily uses about ninety steamships in connection with its business (including its chartered steamers and English fleet). Of the twenty-nine steamships owned by the Company and now in service, nineteen are refrigerator banana cargo and passenger ships, eight are refrigerator banana cargo ships, one is a non-refrigerator banana cargo ship, and one is an oil tanker.<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>The company also claimed to have rendered what it called the "fever-ridden swamps and jungles" of Central America and the [[Atlantic Ocean\|Atlantic]] coast into "modern, sanitary and healthy communities", crediting itself with this due to its installation and maintenance of waterworks, sewerage systems and electric light plants in various locations.<ref name=":3" />

	United Fruit made [[Company town\|company towns]] and paid workers in [[scrip]] to be used at the [[company store]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Peter Chapman\|year=2007\|title=Bananas: how the United Fruit Company shaped the world\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/bananashowunited0000chap/\|publisher=Canongate Books}}</ref>		United Fruit made [[Company town\|company towns]] and paid workers in [[scrip]] to be used at the [[company store]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Peter Chapman\|year=2007\|title=Bananas: how the United Fruit Company shaped the world\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/bananashowunited0000chap/\|publisher=Canongate Books}}</ref>