{"id":4456,"date":"2025-05-03T23:08:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T23:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/?p=4456"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:05:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T14:05:59","slug":"la-matanza-the-banana-massacre-in-american-and-colombian-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/blog\/2025\/05\/03\/la-matanza-the-banana-massacre-in-american-and-colombian-history\/","title":{"rendered":"La Matanza: The Banana Massacre in American and Colombian History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A Colombian United Fruit Company worker carrying bananas in 1924. (Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Advertisement in Scribner’s Magazine, February 1, 1916 (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On December 5th, 1928, Colombian laborers and their families gathered at Ci\u00e9naga\u2019s train station to negotiate the terms of their strike against the United Fruit Company with the Governor of Magdelena. Just before midnight, the Colombian military opened fire on the crowd as the government declared a state of siege in the banana zone.\u200b This atrocity, ending the morning of December 6th, is known as the Banana Massacre.1<\/a><\/sup> <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Popularity of Bananas<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The 1920s was an era known for excessive consumer culture fueled by increased advertising and affordable goods. The banana offers a case in point \u2013 it grew in popularity in the 1920s due to the United Fruit Company\u2019s vigorous advertising campaign.  The company began advertising bananas in 1917 when they already had established plantations in Central and South American countries. They used the \u201clogic\u201d form of advertising to sell the exotic fruit, having scientists promote the nutritional value of bananas, and saw banana sales increase. Advertising in America would change forever when Edward Bernays began targeting people\u2019s emotions instead of logic. With this new mode of advertising proving to be highly successful, the U.F.C. launched the \u201cGreat White Fleet\u201d cruiser that brought Americans to tour United Fruit\u2019s plantations in Latin America while also transporting bananas. This endeavor would prove to be very successful in increasing the banana market.2<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visitors saw a theatrically created plantation that appeared to be a humane and peaceful place. In reality, U.F.C. plantations were corrupt, and the laborers were subjected to terrible work conditions.3<\/a><\/sup> The United Fruit Company did not value their workers; laborers were only regarded as replaceable cogs in their machines. For this reason, there are few photos of the actual workers who labored at the UFC\u2019s plantations. Indeed, most photos from the UFC during this era are of cars, the bananas themselves, and infrastructure.4<\/a><\/sup> This makes the photo of the strike organizers particularly rare. The image was not meant to be available to the general public, as its primary purpose was to inform the operations of the management and security forces. 5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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Leaders of the strike ca. 1928. From left to right: Pedro M. del R\u00edo, Bernardino Guerrero, Ra\u00fal Eduardo Mahecha, Nicanor Serrano and Erasmo Coronell. (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n