I found this week topics extremely interesting, mostly because I’ve only heard of “Banana Business” but haven’t really made a profound reading or research on it. My perspective of the imperialist symbol that the banana has did not actually change. United States has been pointed for many times by the Latin American countries as the most imperialist power, even when the same US denies it. I remember the Monroe doctrine that literally established: “America for the Americans” when they indented to defend Latin American countries from European domination, but this was not a noble act just to protect us; it definitely was an act filled with a personal intention; have a big amount of control in America. And a dangerous or worrying significance of this statement is that US actually thought because all of us were situated in America it was on their natural right to appropriate of our labor. In the natural right they think they have (and they exercise) many military intervention has been observed, while they impose their “lifestyle” and most importantly their ay of thinking.
Another concern I would like to point out is the price of producing bananas, and I’m not referring to the money, but the social cost that come with transnational corporations and its interests. One of them is obviously the use of illegal substances to secure their mono crop, but that damages many plantations of fruits and vegetables. (just to set an example). On the other hand, the social impact that has not changed in the 21st Century; the long working hours, low salary, bad medical conditions, etc. I mentioned this, because I did not really have scared or impressed myself. You might wonder why?… Well, because nowadays these precarious conditions still exist in our Latin American countries, such as Mexico, in which small children would work 8 or 9 hours in a cotton field with his father and receive no salary, besides not having medical insurance or even the opportunity to get education. But let’s not only think about Latin countries,; this happens also in Asia, the new best power economy of the world (China) has extremely precarious conditions for their workers. These examples are the result of an imperialist regime; shall we “blame” it only to US? Well, it depends on the perspective, but definitely blame it on the imperialist thinking.
I agree. The effects of transnational corporations in Latin America has many social consequences that have impacted and characterized Latin America. In addition to what you already mentioned, the ancient knowledge and ways of thinking by the traditional people has also been lost with the introduction of these companies. Diversity is replaced with mono-crops, organic healthy soil is replaced with fertilizers and chemicals added to increase productivity and therefore, the way people relate to the Earth has drastically changed.
Your connection to modern day practices is quite true. Especially your link to China as a new and emerging super power. However China is not only projecting its power into other parts of asia but africa and latin america as well. A recent example of this is a Chinese backed plan to build a canal in Nicaragua to rival the Panama canal. China has had many business dealings in developing countries. Mainly exchanging the construction of infrastructure for the vast removal of natural resources. These modern developments are a stark parallel to the practices that the United States have followed for many years.