The dark history of bananas - John Soluri

Prevoditelj: Vlatka Svec Recezent: Sanda Liker

On a December night in 1910, the exiled former leader of Honduras,

Jedne noći u prosincu 1910. godine prognani bivši vladar Hondurasa,

Manuel Bonilla, boarded a borrowed yacht in New Orleans.

Manuel Bonilla, ukrcao se u New Orleansu na posuđenu jedrilicu.

With a group of heavily armed accomplices,

S grupom teško naoružanih suučesnika

he set sail for Honduras in hopes of reclaiming power

zaplovio je prema Hondurasu s nadom u povrat svoje moći

by whatever means necessary.

ne birajući sredstva.

Bonilla had a powerful backer,

Bonilla je imao snažno zaleđe,

the future leader of a notorious organization

budućeg vođu zloglasne organizacije

known throughout Latin America as El Pulpo, or "the Octopus,"

poznate diljem Latinske Amerike kao El Pulpo - Hobotnica,

for its long reach.

zbog svog dalekog dosega.

The infamous El Pulpo was a U.S. corporation

Ozloglašena El Pulpo bila je SAD-ova korporacija

trafficking in, of all things, bananas.

koja je trgovala, ni više ni manje nego bananama.

It was officially known as United Fruit Company—

Službeno je bila poznata kao United Fruit Company

or Chiquita Brands International today.

ili današnja Chiquita Brands International.

First cultivated in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago,

Uzgajane najprije u sjeveroistočnoj Aziji prije nekoliko tisuća godine,

bananas reached the Americas in the early 1500s,

banane su stigle u Amerike početkom 16. stoljeća,

where enslaved Africans cultivated them in plots alongside sugar plantations.

gdje su ih afrički robovi uzgajali u nasadima pored plantaža šećerne trske.

There were many different bananas,

Postojalo je mnogo različitih banana

most of which looked nothing like the bananas in supermarket aisles today.

od kojih većina nije nimalo nalikovala bananama koje danas poznajemo.

In the 1800s, captains from New Orleans and New England

U 19. stoljeću kapetani iz New Orleansa i Nove Engleske

ventured to the Caribbean in search of coconuts and other goods.

uputili su se prema Karibima u potrazi za kokosima i drugim dobrima.

They began to experiment with bananas, purchasing one kind,

Počeli su eksperimentirati s bananama tako što su kupili jednu sortu,

called Gros Michel, from Afro-Caribbean farmers in Jamaica, Cuba, and Honduras.

Gros Michel, od afrokaripskih farmera s Jamajke, Kube i Hondurasa.

Gros Michel bananas produced large bunches of relatively thick-skinned fruit—

Gros Michel banane rasle su u velikim grozdovima i imale relativno debelu koru

ideal for shipping.

pa su bile idealne za otpremu brodom.

By the end of the 1800s, bananas were a hit in the US.

Do kraja 19. stoljeća banane su bile hit u SAD-u.

They were affordable, available year-round,

Imale su povoljnu cijenu, bile su dostupne tijekom cijele godine

and endorsed by medical doctors.

i preporučivali su ih liječnici.

As bananas became big business,

Kako su banane postajale unosan posao,

U.S. fruit companies wanted to grow their own bananas.

kompanije u SAD-u htjele su ih same uzgajati.

In order to secure access to land,

Da bi si osigurali pristup zemljištima,

banana moguls lobbied and bribed government officials in Central America,

banana moguli lobirali su i potkupljivali državne dužnosnike u Srednjoj Americi

and even funded coups to ensure they had allies in power.

pa čak i financirali pučeve da bi imali saveznike na vladajućim pozicijama.

In Honduras, Manuel Bonilla repaid the banana man

U Hondurasu je Manuel Bonilla otplatio svoj dug proizvođaču banana

who had financed his return to power with land concessions.

koji je financirao njegov povratak na vlast dodijelivši mu koncesiju.

By the 1930s, one company dominated the region: United Fruit,

Do 1930-ih jedna je kompanija dominirala regijom: United Fruit,

who owned over 40% of Guatemala’s arable land at one point.

koja je u jednom trenutku posjedovala preko 40 % obradive zemlje u Gvatemali.

They cleared rainforest in Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras,

Krčili su prašume u Kostariki, Kolumbiji, Gvatemali, Hondurasu

and Panama to build plantations,

i Panami da bi napravili plantaže

along with railroads, ports, and towns to house workers.

i gradili željeznice, luke i gradove za radnike.

Lured by relatively high-paying jobs, people migrated to banana zones.

Namamljeni dosta dobro plaćenim poslom, ljudi su migrirali u banana zone.

From Guatemala to Colombia,

Od Gvatemale do Kolumbije

United Fruit’s plantations grew exclusively Gros Michel bananas.

plantaže United Fruitsa uzgajale su isključivo Gros Michel sortu.

These densely packed farms had little biological diversity,

Njihove gusto zbijene farme imale su malo biološke raznolikosti

making them ripe for disease epidemics.

i kao takve bile su plodno tlo za epidemije bolesti.

The infrastructure connecting these vulnerable farms

Infrastruktura koja je povezivala tako ranjive farme

could quickly spread disease:

mogla je brzo širiti zarazu:

pathogens could hitch a ride from one farm to another on workers’ boots,

patogeni su mogli uhvatiti prijevoz s jedne na drugu farmu na čizmama radnika,

railroad cars, and steamships.

željezničkim vagonima i parobrodima.

That’s exactly what happened in the 1910s,

Točno se to dogodilo 1910-ih,

when a fungus began to level Gros Michel banana plantations,

kad je gljivica počela uništavati plantaže Gros Michel banana,

first in Panama, and later throughout Central America,

najprije u Panami, a kasnije diljem Srednje Amerike,

spreading quickly via the same system that had enabled big profits and cheap bananas.

šireći se istim načinom koji je omogućio veliki profit i jeftine banane.

In a race against “Panama Disease,”

U utrci s "panamskom bolešću",

banana companies abandoned infected plantations

banana kompanije napustile su zaražene plantaže

in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala,

u Kostariki, Hondurasu i Gvatemali,

leaving thousands of farmers and workers jobless.

tako ostavivši tisuće farmera i radnika bez posla.

The companies then felled extensive tracts of rainforests

Kompanije su nakon toga srušile velike površine prašuma

in order to establish new plantations.

da bi napravile nove plantaže.

After World War II,

Nakon Drugog svjetskog rata,

the dictatorships with which United Fruit had partnered in Guatemala and Honduras

diktature partneri United Fruita u Gvatemali i Hondurasu

yielded to democratically elected governments that called for land reform.

povukle su se pred demokratski izabranim vladama koje su tražile agrarnu reformu.

In Guatemala, President Jacobo Arbenz tried to buy back land from United Fruit

U Gvatemali je predsjednik Jacobo Arbenz pokušao otkupiti zemlju od United Fruita

and redistribute it to landless farmers.

i raspodijeliti je farmerima bez zemlje.

The Arbenz government offered to pay a price based on tax records—

Arbenzova vlada ponudila je otkupnu cijenu prema poreznim podacima

where United Fruit had underreported the value of the land.

u kojima je United Fruit prijavio manju vrijednost zemljišta.

El Pulpo was not happy.

El Pulpo nije bio zadovoljan.

The company launched propaganda campaigns against Arbenz

Kompanija je lansirala kampanje protiv Arbenza

and called on its deep connections in the US Government for help.

i prozivala ga zbog njegove čvrste veze s vladom SAD-a kao pomagačem.

Citing fears of communism, the CIA orchestrated the overthrow

Po izlikom straha od komunizma, CIA je orkestrirala svrgavanje

of the democratically elected Arbenz in 1954.

demokratski izabranog Arbenza 1954. godine.

That same year in Honduras, thousands of United Fruit workers went on strike

Iste su godine u Hondurasu tisuće radnika United Fruitsa krenule u štrajk

until the company agreed to recognize a new labor union.

dok kompanija ne prizna novi radnički sindikat.

With the political and economic costs of running from Panama Disease escalating,

Politički i ekonomski gubitci zbog bijega od eskalacije panamske bolesti

United Fruit finally switched from Gros Michel

dovele su ranih 1960-ih do prelaska United Fuitsa s Gros Michel

to Panama disease-resistant Cavendish bananas in the early 1960s.

na Cavendish banane otporne na panamsku bolest.

Today, bananas are no longer as economically vital in Central America,

Danas banane nisu više ključne za ekonomiju Srednje Amerike

and United Fruit Company, rechristened Chiquita,

i kompanija United Fruit, preimenovana u Chiquitu,

has lost its stranglehold on Latin American politics.

izgubila je svoju kontrolu nad politikom Latinske Amerike.

But the modern banana industry isn’t without problems.

Ipak, moderna industrija banana nije lišena problema.

Cavendish bananas require frequent applications of pesticides

Cavendish banane zahtijevaju čestu primjenu pesticida

that create hazards for farmworkers and ecosystems.

opasnih za radnike na farmi i ekosustav.

And though they’re resistant to the particular pathogen

I iako su otporne na specifičan patogen

that affected Gros Michel bananas,

od kojeg su oboljele Gros Michel banane,

Cavendish farms also lack biological diversity,

farme Cavendisha također nemaju biološku raznolikost,

leaving the banana trade ripe for another pandemic.

zbog čega je tržište banana plodno tlo za razvoj nove pandemije.