Banana Republic, Cause or Consequence of Decadence? (República Bananera, ¿Causa o Consecuencia de la Decadencia?)

Learn Spanish with Stories

While capitalism has undoubtedly brought us some of our most impressive advancements as a species, it has also done some pretty terrible stuff to people across the world. Latin America is not an exception.
In the early 20th century, as corporations in the United States began looking outward and started entering poorer countries (under the guise of "foreign investment"), governments across Central and South America would greedily accept them and allow them to do whatever they wanted.
Soon, however, these corporations turned against the people and began the exploitation of land and workers, turning their host countries into "Banana Republics" which depended almost 100% on the profits gained from working with the corporation. But why the name? And how did it affect the nations in the long run?
Well, I guess you're going to have to listen to the latest episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast to find out!
Transcript of this episode is available at: https://podcast.lingomastery.com/listen/1182