Written by Jake Beecroft
‘Journey to Banana Land’ begins with upbeat music accompanied by cheerful and vibrant images of picturesque mountains and tropical beaches; the camera then moves, showcasing workers in fields of golden bananas and vast plantations. Smiling families and thriving communities are presented in Guatemala City, a place both modern and developed while also maintaining an ancient cultural connection to the land going back centuries. All the while, a soothing narrator assures viewers that the United Fruit Company has provided such prosperity and modernity. Journey to Banana Land, a propaganda film created by United Fruit, was more than a marketing tool; it was part of a broader strategy to paint the corporation as a force for good while concealing its role in one of the most infamous cases of corporate greed in history.
By the mid-twentieth century, the United Fruit Company had grown to hold vast swathes of land across Central America, producing tropical fruits, particularly focusing on the cultivation of bananas which the company became synonymous with. Its position in the market by the 1950s was unrivalled, with the company’s monstrous style of operation known derisively as El Pulpo (The Octopus), with the company having extended its tentacles across all areas of life in the region, particularly in Guatemala.
The company’s holdings in Guatemala alone were staggering. It owned more than forty per cent of arable land, a far larger share than any other foreign investor, with much of the land lying fallow to both limit competitors and fix banana prices higher. The company also controlled most of the country’s infrastructure, from near-complete control of all railroads to total rights of telecommunications and control of the only viable international port. Practices like this ensured United Fruit held a total monopoly on banana production in the country, with the Guatemalan state effectively at the mercy of a select few on the company’s board of directors.
The company had traditionally relied on military strongmen, both across the region and in Guatemala, to provide concessions to foreign investors in exchange for a steady income. In 1944, President Jorge Ubico, a once reliable figure for the company, was overthrown. Following a successful democratic election in 1950, Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán prevailed as a reform-minded leader committed to addressing Guatemala’s deep social inequalities. At the heart of his platform was an ambitious land reform program aimed at redistributing idle agricultural land, including much of United Fruit’s holding, to landless peasants. This reform, though popular among the impoverished majority, sent shockwaves through United Fruit’s boardroom and its allies in the U.S. government.
United Fruit took no time in denouncing both the action as illegal and Arbenz as a communist in power that would threaten American interests. The company hired the public relations firm of Edward Bernays, the so-called ‘father of public relations,’ to launch a sophisticated campaign branding Árbenz as a communist puppet. This narrative, though largely baseless, proved successful in a society rife with fears of a potential communist infiltration close to US territory.
Using carefully crafted press releases, lobbying efforts, and films like Journey to Banana Land, United Fruit painted Guatemala as a burgeoning Soviet beachhead in the Western Hemisphere. These efforts gained traction among U.S. policymakers. The fact that several high-ranking U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who had previously served as United Fruit’s attorney, and CIA Director Allen Dulles, both had personal and financial ties to United Fruit, only amplified the company’s influence.
With allies in the US government and the 1953 election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who adopted a harder stance against communism than his Democratic predecessors. United Fruit hired former Marine John Clements, a public relations expert who shared the anti-communist sentiment of the CIA and the President. Clements distributed reports to over eight hundred influential conservatives, claiming that Árbenz planned to seize the Panama Canal and turn Guatemala into a communist stronghold.
Bernays, United Fruit’s public relations mastermind, skilfully manipulated American public opinion. He courted journalists from outlets like The New York Times, Time Magazine, and The Miami Herald, flying them to Central America on United Fruit’s dime. These reporters were introduced to company employees and handpicked societal figures while being fed a narrative of rising communist terror taking hold close to American soil.
The result was a media storm portraying Guatemala as teetering on the brink of a communist takeover backed by Moscow insurgents. Meanwhile, radio broadcasts using the company-owned telecommunications infrastructure broadcasted a station known as the ‘Voice of Liberation.’ Operated by CIA operative Howard Hunt, this broadcast sought to spread lies about Árbenz and his wife, accusing them both of being Soviet agents, going as far as to claim they were antichrists.
The new ambassador to Guatemala following the election of Eisenhower was Jack Peurifoy, a self-described ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ American patriot. Peurifoy, steeped in anti-communist sentiment, immediately began pressuring Árbenz, accusing his government of being a Soviet bridgehead. During a tense dinner meeting, Peurifoy dismissed Árbenz’s complaints about United Fruit, instead fixating on the communist rumours spread by American journalists.
Fresh from Egypt where the monarchy had recently fallen, Howard Hunt became the CIA’s point man for the coup, code-named Operation PBSUCCESS. From an airbase in a Florida swamp, Hunt coordinated propaganda campaigns, including fictitious radio broadcasts, to demoralise Árbenz’s government. He enlisted anti-Árbenz Guatemalans, from clergy to business leaders, and scripted a narrative of chaos.
Castillo Armas, a Guatemalan exile, was chosen to lead the coup. He was housed in a United Fruit plantation in Honduras close to the Guatemalan border, ready to await CIA orders. Armas’s small force of exiles launched an invasion in June 1954. Despite being poorly equipped, the CIA utilised radio networks to present the invasion as a popular revolution, quickly gathering support despite limited actual popular participation. American broadcasters financed by United Fruit were fed tailored information to suggest that Árbenz was committing war crimes as the rebellion grew closer to the capital, showing imagery of mutilated corpses that would later be disproved as images from other conflicts.
On 27 June 1954, Árbenz resigned, blaming United Fruit and the CIA in a final radio broadcast before it was jammed. Castillo Armas assumed power, swiftly reversing land reforms and restoring United Fruit’s holdings. Yet, the coup’s long-term consequences were devastating. Guatemala was plunged into a brutal civil war that lasted three decades, while the American intervention left a legacy of distrust across the region.
United Fruit’s triumph was short-lived. The company faced backlash in Washington, where accusations of monopolistic practices led to antitrust investigations. The company was seen by the CIA as a potential hindrance towards American efforts to build anti-communist support in Central and South America. Edward Bernays lamented that United Fruit was being treated “worse than the communists.” By the late 1950s, the company’s monopoly was dismantled, with rivals like Standard Fruit benefiting from its downfall.
Journey to Banana Land serves as a reminder of how far corporate greed can reach; the film reflects how a fruit company’s veneer of benevolence masked a ruthless agenda. By exploiting Cold War fears, manipulating public opinion, and leveraging powerful allies, United Fruit orchestrated the overthrow of a democratically elected government. This dark chapter serves as a stark reminder of the costs of corporate greed entangled with geopolitics, leaving Guatemala to bear the heavy burden of its aftermath.
Bibliography
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Chapman, Peter. 2022. Bananas. Canongate Books.
Colby, Jason M. 2011. The Business of Empire. Cornell University Press.
Immerman, Richard H. 2010. The CIA in Guatemala. University of Texas Press.
Rose, Susan O. 1977. “THE UNITED FRUIT COMPANY in TIQUISATE, GUATEMALA.” Publication Series (Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers) 6: 105–10. https://doi.org/10.2307/25765587.
Streeter, Stephen M. 2000. “Interpreting the 1954 U.S. Intervention in Guatemala: Realist, Revisionist, and Post revisionist Perspectives.” The History Teacher 34 (1): 61–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/3054375.
William J. Ganz Co. 1950. “Journey to Banana Land.” Internet Archive. 1950. https://archive.org/details/2094_Journey_To_Bananaland.
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