Crown Colony as Banana Republic: The United Fruit Company in British Honduras, 1900–1920

In: Journal of Latin American studies, Band 28, Heft 2, S. 357-381

Abstract

AbstractIn much historiography of the colonial Caribbean, British administrators are portrayed as mediators between domestic elites, foreign capital, and the working class. Such scholarship converges with popular belief in Belize, whose institutions are seen as a legacy of 'impartial' British rule. This article examines the relationship between the United Fruit Company and the colonial government of British Honduras. Contrary to claims of administrative impartiality, colonial officials facilitated the company's monopoly over the banana industry and acted as company advocates before the Colonial Office, actions that ultimately undermined the colony's independent banana producers.