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Banana industry basically had America destroying democracies in S America so we could access their resources. United Fruit.

Great book about it The Fish that Ate the Whale.

https://www.amazon.com/Fish-That-Ate-Whale-Americas/dp/12500...

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So the company could access their resources. No Americans, save for retiring government appointees, got so much as a banana.

the companies were owned by shareholders who profited handsomely.

Technically all Americans got bananas, because the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) and the Standard Fruit Company (now Dole) subverted nations to ensure uninterrupted supply.

and, like, bananas are cheap as hell. pretty common, even in Canada.

imagine if they were as rare as dragonfruit or durian

At the time the book takes place in they were very rare. Most Americans had never eaten or seen a banana.

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