Case Study: Guatemala

The readings for this week outline something that I never cease to be enraged about: U.S. imperialism in Latin America.  The U.S. has a long and dirty history of treating Latin America as it's back yard, not as individual countries with rights to sovereignty. The history of the United Fruit Company is a flagrant example of this reality. For years, this company held Guatemala virtually under hostage. Their skills at making friends with the local disctators allowed them to treat the resources of this foreign country as their own, and their actions were backed by the U.S. government, who had large investments in the company (apparently, bribery and politicians being bought out by corporations is nothing new). What astounds me in all of this is the arrogance of the United Fruit Company in all their dealings with Guatemala and surrounding countries, even going as far as encouraging political coups! In Bitter Fruit, this sense of proprietorship of Latin America is laid out in greater details, talking about the many pressure tactics employed by the U.S.to keep it's neighbours in line.

One of my greatest difficulties when reading something like this is knowing that U.S. imperialist measures in Latin America are far from over. Though things have changed and improved somewhat, there is no doubt that perceived U.S. proprietorship of it's neighbours is healthy and well. If that wasn't the case, wouldn't things such as the profound (and, in my opinion, misplaced) involvement of the U.S.  military in the "drug war" create more uproar in the international community? The truth is, all out economic rights morphed into security rights and are now threatening to morph into a strange drug war/war on terror hybrid. The real problem here is that the U.S., and, to some extent, the international community, still see Latin America as a weak, pliable place, easily meddled with.