2024-03-15 03:54:46
The term “banana republic” arouses the ire of politicians, who use it rarely to indicate their rejection of any external dictates or to accuse countries of corruption and chaos.
The Israeli Likud Party, to which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu belongs, rejected Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the US Senate, calling for new elections in Israel.
The party said that Israel “is not a banana republic” and that Netanyahu’s policy enjoys broad public support.
In 2021, American politicians, including former President George W. Bush, likened the United States to a banana republic after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Congress building in January during a meeting to certify the victory of US President Joe Biden in the presidential elections.
In 2018, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, used the term and rejected criticism directed at the Kingdom by European countries and Canada. He said in a speech he delivered before the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament, “Your information about Saudi Arabia is based on rumours… Stop criticizing our judiciary… We are not A banana republic country.
What does the term “banana republic” mean?
Politicians use the term banana republic to indicate widespread corruption and weak government. Archive
“Banana Republic” is considered an “insulting” and offensive term for countries that depend for their revenues on the export of a single product or commodity, or are subject to foreign companies or industries, according to the “Banana Republic” Encyclopedia.Britannica“.
One of the characteristics of these countries is that they have a social or economic class structure, where there is a small ruling class that controls access to wealth and resources, and they are politically unstable and characterized by weak governance structures, which leads to the spread of corruption and poverty and a lack of social and economic equality.
Israel is not a “banana republic”… Netanyahu’s party responds to the statements of an American senator
The Israeli Likud Party, in response to US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s comments about the necessity of holding new elections in the Hebrew state, said that Israel is not a “banana republic.”
The use of this term dates back to the late nineteenth century, when American companies took control and exploited the lands and workers of banana plantations in Central and South American countries.
Politicians and analysts use the term “banana republic” to describe scenarios of corruption, repression, and failure to control executive power.
The emergence of the term “banana republic”
Politicians use the term “banana republic” to reject any external criticism. Archival – expressive
The term “banana republic” first appeared in a short story penned by American author O. Henry in 1901, and he reused it in his first book, “Cabbages and Kings,” published in 1904.
Henry describes an imaginary country he called “Anchoria,” a “little offshore banana republic.” Although he did not mention it literally, he based his writing on his experiences in Honduras, where he lived for several months and watched how companies built roads, ports, and railways in exchange for land to grow the fruit.
The Encyclopedia Britannica attributes the origin of the term banana republic as a concept to the year 1870, when Lorenzo Dow Baker began marketing the bananas he had bought in Jamaica in the United States, which created a great demand for this fruit, so that the United Fruit Company acquired a large percentage of the market and production and became The largest owner of moser farms in many Central and South American countries.
A report published by the website indicates:The Conversion“Until increasing demand for bananas prompted major American corporations in the 1880s to strike deals with governments throughout Central America, financing infrastructure projects in exchange for land and agricultural policies that would allow them to expand production.
Pompeo responds to Bush and others regarding the “banana republic”
Pompeo responds to Bush and others regarding the “banana republic”
The plantations relied on authoritarian rule to protect land concessions and suppress labor unrest, and sometimes they intervened directly in the democratic process to ensure the existence of a political class that served their interests. For example, the Cuyamel Fruit Company supported a coup in Honduras in 1911 in order to replace the president. The country has a person more compatible with American interests, according to the same site.
Ultimately, close ties between banana producers and exporters and oppressive and corrupt leaders undermined development in several countries, exacerbated inequality and left Central and South American countries weak and corrupt.
The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, wrote a poem about corporate dominance in South American countries entitled “Canto General” in 1950, in which he said: “As for the United Fruit Company, it reserved for itself the most precious piece, the central coast of my world, the soft waist of America, and it rechristened this countries, and called them banana republics.
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