The dark history of bananas - John Soluri

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

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

1910 年 12 月的一個晚上，

被放逐的前宏都拉斯領袖

Manuel Bonilla, boarded a borrowed yacht in New Orleans.

曼努埃爾·博尼利亞登上 在紐奧良借來的豪華遊艇。

With a group of heavily armed accomplices,

他和一群火力強大的同夥

he set sail for Honduras in hopes of reclaiming power

起航前往宏都拉斯， 希望能奪回政權，

by whatever means necessary.

不擇手段。

Bonilla had a powerful backer,

博尼利亞有個強大的支持者，

the future leader of a notorious organization

一個惡名昭彰的組織的未來領袖，

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

全拉丁美洲都知道這個組織叫做

El Pulpo，或「章魚」， 因為它的觸角能伸得很遠。

for its long reach.

The infamous El Pulpo was a U.S. corporation

聲名狼藉的章魚是間美國企業，

trafficking in, of all things, bananas.

專做非法買賣，特別是香蕉。

It was officially known as United Fruit Company—

它的官方名稱叫做 「聯合果品公司」——

or Chiquita Brands International today.

或者現今的「金吉達品牌國際 」。

First cultivated in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago,

最早種植香蕉的 是數千年前的東南亞，

bananas reached the Americas in the early 1500s,

香蕉在 1500 年代早期抵達美洲，

where enslaved Africans cultivated them in plots alongside sugar plantations.

非裔奴隸在糖科種植園 旁邊栽種香蕉。

There were many different bananas,

有許多不同的香蕉，

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

大部分看起來都不像 現今超市架上擺的香蕉。

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

在 1800 年代，紐奧良 和新英格蘭的船長

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

冒險前往加勒比海， 尋找椰子和其他商品。

They began to experiment with bananas, purchasing one kind,

他們開始測試香蕉，

購買了一種大米七香蕉，

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

賣方是牙買加、古巴、 宏都拉斯的非裔加勒比農民。

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

大米七香蕉產出大量 相對厚皮的果實——

ideal for shipping.

非常適合運送。

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

到了 1800 年代末，

香蕉在美國大受歡迎。

They were affordable, available year-round,

價格親民，全年產出，

and endorsed by medical doctors.

還有醫生背書。

As bananas became big business,

隨著香蕉變成大事業，

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

美國的水果公司也想要自己種香蕉。

In order to secure access to land,

為了確保能夠取得土地使用權，

banana moguls lobbied and bribed government officials in Central America,

香蕉大亨遊說和賄賂 中美洲的政府官員，

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

甚至資助政變， 以確保結交到有權勢的盟友。

In Honduras, Manuel Bonilla repaid the banana man

曼努埃爾·博尼利亞 在宏都拉斯用土地許可

who had financed his return to power with land concessions.

回報提供資金 讓他重新掌權的賣香蕉的人，

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

到了 1930 年代， 一間公司主宰了該地區：

聯合果品，

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

一度擁有瓜地馬拉 40% 的耕地。

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

他們將哥斯大黎加、哥倫比亞、 瓜地馬拉、宏都拉斯、

and Panama to build plantations,

巴拿馬的森林清除，改成農園，

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

同時建造鐵路、港口 和讓工人住的小鎮。

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

受到相對高薪的工作引誘，

人們移居到香蕉區。

From Guatemala to Colombia,

從瓜地馬拉到哥倫比亞，

United Fruit’s plantations grew exclusively Gros Michel bananas.

聯合果品的農園 專門種植大米七香蕉。

These densely packed farms had little biological diversity,

這些密集農場沒什麼生物多樣性，

making them ripe for disease epidemics.

使其很難抵抗流行病。

The infrastructure connecting these vulnerable farms

連結這些脆弱農場的基礎設施

could quickly spread disease:

會讓疾病快速散播：

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

工人的靴子、鐵路、汽船 都是病原體能搭的便車，

railroad cars, and steamships.

藉此從一個農場到另一個農場。

That’s exactly what happened in the 1910s,

那正是 1910 年代所發生的狀況，

when a fungus began to level Gros Michel banana plantations,

那時，一種真菌開始 摧毀大米七農園，

first in Panama, and later throughout Central America,

首先是巴拿馬，接著是整個中美洲，

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

能夠帶來豐厚利潤和廉價香蕉的系統

也成了快速傳播的管道。

In a race against “Panama Disease,”

競速對抗「巴拿馬疾病」的香蕉公司

banana companies abandoned infected plantations

放棄受感染的哥斯大黎加、

in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala,

宏都拉斯、瓜地馬拉農園，

leaving thousands of farmers and workers jobless.

導致數千名農民與工人失業。

The companies then felled extensive tracts of rainforests

這些公司接下來砍伐雨林， 清出大片耕地，

in order to establish new plantations.

以建立新的農園。

After World War II,

二次大戰後，

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

聯合果品在瓜地馬拉 及宏都拉斯合作的獨裁政府

yielded to democratically elected governments that called for land reform.

屈服於要求土地改革的民選政府。

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

在瓜地馬拉，總統哈科沃·阿本斯

試圖向聯合果品買回土地，

and redistribute it to landless farmers.

將之重新分配給沒有土地的農民。

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

阿本斯政府提議根據課稅記錄 來決定支付的價格——

where United Fruit had underreported the value of the land.

在記錄中，聯合果品 低報了土地價值。

El Pulpo was not happy.

章魚感到不悅。

The company launched propaganda campaigns against Arbenz

該公司發動宣傳活動來對抗阿本斯，

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

並動用它在美國政府裡的 深厚連結來求助。

Citing fears of communism, the CIA orchestrated the overthrow

中情局引用共產主義的恐懼，

在 1954 年安排了 推翻民選總統阿本斯。

of the democratically elected Arbenz in 1954.

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

同年，在宏都拉斯，

數千名聯合果品的員工罷工抗議，

until the company agreed to recognize a new labor union.

要求公司同意承認 一個新的勞工工會。

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

因為逃離不斷惡化的巴拿馬疾病 所付出的政治和經濟成本，

United Fruit finally switched from Gros Michel

讓聯合果品終於在 1960 年代初期

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

從大米七香蕉轉換成可以抵抗 巴拿馬疾病的香芽蕉。

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

現今，在中美洲， 香蕉的經濟重要性已不再，

and United Fruit Company, rechristened Chiquita,

而聯合果品公司改名為金吉達，

has lost its stranglehold on Latin American politics.

它也失去了在拉丁美洲 政治圈的壓制地位。

But the modern banana industry isn’t without problems.

但現代香蕉產業並非就沒有問題。

Cavendish bananas require frequent applications of pesticides

香芽蕉需要經常使用殺蟲劑，

that create hazards for farmworkers and ecosystems.

危害農場工人及生態系統。

And though they’re resistant to the particular pathogen

雖然香芽蕉農場 能抵抗影響大米七香蕉的特定病原體，

that affected Gros Michel bananas,

Cavendish farms also lack biological diversity,

卻也缺乏生物多樣性，

leaving the banana trade ripe for another pandemic.

讓香蕉貿易很有可能 再為其他疫病所苦。