Chapter 6 of Dawson reading is about how the U.S. came into interventions with Latin America. It started with the Military interventions, then came economic and cultural interventions.
There are two things that really caught my attention in this week’s reading; bananas and Disney. I found it interesting that bananas are what started the commodities and trades between many countries in the Americas. With the cultivation and production of bananas attracting many people, there formed the United Fruit Company (UFCO) which “immediately became the largest banana company in the world” (Dawson, p.187). I was also fascinated to hear that Walt Disney got some inspiration from Latin America when creating his cartoons. I did not know much about the shows The Three Caballeros and Saludos Amigos but it was interesting to learn that Walt Disney made these shows to promote tourism in Latin America.
Two of the documents in this chapter that stood out to me was Sandino’s Political Manifesto and the film, Silent War. In Sandino’s document, he asserts how he was strongly opposed to influence from the U.S. and that Nicaragua should live more independently. His tone seemed that he was strong about his opinion and was willing to do anything for the better of his country. In the film Silent War, it emphasizes on what the U.S. can contribute to Latin America and can end up having a positive impact to the people.
I also found the document of bananas to be interesting. I remember when I went to Costa Rica seeing the never ending banana patches and the huge dole fruit company’s plantation, so it makes sense that Much of Central Americas economies has been historically based on fruit exportation. I didn’t realize how big of an industry it actually was though until I read this chapter.