Reinterpreting the Banana Republic - by Darío a Euraque (Paperback)

About the Book

"Major work focusing on Honduras' northern coast challenges traditional assumption that dominant position of foreign banana companies in region precluded significant, active role for local capitalists and workers. New understanding emerges of 'military populism' and other peculiar features of 20th-century Honduran political history"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

Book Synopsis

In this new analysis of Honduran social and political development, Dar degreeso Euraque explains why Honduras escaped the pattern of revolution and civil wars suffered by its neighbors Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Within this comparative framework, he challenges the traditional Banana Republic 'theory' and its assumption that multinational corporations completely controlled state formation in Central America. Instead, he demonstrates how local society in Honduras's North Coast banana-exporting region influenced national political development. According to Euraque, the reformism of the 1970s, which prevented social and political polarization in the 1980s, originated in the local politics of San Pedro Sula and other cities along the North Coast. Moreover, Euraque shows that by the 1960s, the banana-growing areas had become bastions of liberalism, led by local capitalists and organized workers. This regional political culture directly influenced events at the national level, argues Euraque. Specifically, the military coup of 1972 drew its ideology and civilian leaders from the North Coast, and as a result, the new regime was able to successfully channel popular unrest into state-sponsored reform projects. Based on long-ignored sources in Honduran and American archives and on interviews, the book signals a major reinterpretation of modern Honduran history.

Review Quotes

[Shows] that the Caribbean coast, typically considered an enclave, had direct and influential ties to the rest of the country.

"Latin American Research Review"

A meaningful contribution to the literature on Honduras.

"Choice"

Euraque defeats on its own turf the Banana Republic thesis, which has been so prominent in Honduran historiography.

Robert G. Williams, author of "States and Social Evolution"

ÝShows¨ that the Caribbean coast, typically considered an enclave, had direct and influential ties to the rest of the country.

"Latin American Research Review"

"[Shows] that the Caribbean coast, typically considered an enclave, had direct and influential ties to the rest of the country.

"Latin American Research Review""

"Euraque defeats on its own turf the Banana Republic thesis, which has been so prominent in Honduran historiography.

Robert G. Williams, author of "States and Social Evolution""

A new interpretation of modern Honduran history.

"American Historical Review"

About the Author

Darío A. Euraque, a native of Honduras, is associate professor of history at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.