Manuel Bonilla, boarded a borrowed yacht in New Orleans.

曼努埃爾-博尼利亞，在新奧爾良登上了一艘借來的遊艇。

With a group of heavily armed accomplices,

帶著一幫全副武裝的同夥。

he set sail for Honduras in hopes of reclaiming power

他啟程前往洪都拉斯，希望能奪回權力。

by whatever means necessary.

不擇手段

Bonilla had a powerful backer,

博尼利亞有一個強大的靠山。

the future leader of a notorious organization

梟雄

known throughout Latin America as El Pulpo, or "the Octopus,"

八達通

for its long reach.

因其覆蓋面較廣。

The infamous El Pulpo was a U.S. corporation

臭名昭著的El Pulpo是一家美國公司。

trafficking in, of all things, bananas.

販運，其中包括香蕉；

It was officially known as United Fruit Company—

它的正式名稱是聯合水果公司-

or Chiquita Brands International today.

或 Chiquita Brands International 今天。

First cultivated in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago,

幾千年前最早在東南亞栽培。

bananas reached the Americas in the early 1500s,

香蕉在15世紀初傳入美洲。

where enslaved Africans cultivated them in plots alongside sugar plantations.

在那裡，被奴役的非洲人在甘蔗種植園旁的地塊上種植它們。

There were many different bananas,

有很多不同的香蕉。

most of which looked nothing like the bananas in supermarket aisles today.

其中大部分看起來和今天超市貨架上的香蕉完全不一樣。

In the 1800s, captains from New Orleans and New England

在19世紀，來自新奧爾良和新英格蘭的船長們。

ventured to the Caribbean in search of coconuts and other goods.

冒險到加勒比地區尋找椰子和其他商品。

They began to experiment with bananas, purchasing one kind,

他們開始嘗試吃香蕉，購買一種。

called Gros Michel, from Afro-Caribbean farmers in Jamaica, Cuba, and Honduras.

稱為Gros Michel，來自牙買加、古巴和洪都拉斯的非洲裔加勒比農民。

Gros Michel bananas produced large bunches of relatively thick-skinned fruit—

Gros Michel 香蕉結出了一大串相對較厚的果實------。

ideal for shipping.

是運輸的理想選擇。

By the end of the 1800s, bananas were a hit in the US.

到19世紀末，香蕉在美國大受歡迎。

They were affordable, available year-round,

他們價格實惠，一年四季都有。

and endorsed by medical doctors.

並得到醫生的認可。

As bananas became big business,

隨著香蕉成為大生意。

U.S. fruit companies wanted to grow their own bananas.

美國水果公司想自己種植香蕉。

In order to secure access to land,

為了保證土地的使用權。

banana moguls lobbied and bribed government officials in Central America,

香蕉大亨在中美洲遊說和賄賂政府官員。

and even funded coups to ensure they had allies in power.

甚至資助政變以確保他們有盟友掌權。

In Honduras, Manuel Bonilla repaid the banana man

在洪都拉斯，曼努埃爾-博尼利亞償還了香蕉人。

who had financed his return to power with land concessions.

他用土地特許權資助他重新上臺。

By the 1930s, one company dominated the region: United Fruit,

到了20世紀30年代，有一家公司主導了該地區。聯合水果公司

who owned over 40% of Guatemala's arable land at one point.

他一度擁有瓜地馬拉40%以上的可耕地。

They cleared rainforest in Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras,

他們在哥斯達黎加、哥倫比亞、瓜地馬拉、洪都拉斯清理雨林。

and Panama to build plantations,

和巴拿馬建立種植園。

along with railroads, ports, and towns to house workers.

與鐵路、港口、城鎮一起安置工人。

Lured by relatively high-paying jobs, people migrated to banana zones.

在相對高薪工作的誘惑下，人們向香蕉區移民。

From Guatemala to Colombia,

從瓜地馬拉到哥倫比亞。

United Fruit's plantations grew exclusively Gros Michel bananas.

聯合水果公司的種植園只種植Gros Michel香蕉。

These densely packed farms had little biological diversity,

這些密密麻麻的農場幾乎沒有生物多樣性。

making them ripe for disease epidemics.

使其成為疾病流行的成熟期。

The infrastructure connecting these vulnerable farms

連接這些脆弱農場的基礎設施

could quickly spread disease:

可以迅速傳播疾病。

pathogens could hitch a ride from one farm to another on workers' boots,

病原體可以通過工人的靴子從一個農場搭到另一個農場。

railroad cars, and steamships.

鐵路車輛和汽船。

That's exactly what happened in the 1910s,

這正是1910年代發生的事情。

when a fungus began to level Gros Michel banana plantations,

當一種真菌開始使格羅斯-米歇爾香蕉種植園夷為平地時。

first in Panama, and later throughout Central America,

先是在巴拿馬，後來在整個中美洲。

spreading quickly via the same system that had enabled big profits and cheap bananas.

通過同樣的系統迅速蔓延，使大利潤和廉價香蕉得以實現。

In a race against “Panama Disease,”

在與 "巴拿馬病 "的賽跑中

banana companies abandoned infected plantations

香蕉公司放棄受感染的種植園

in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala,

在哥斯達黎加、洪都拉斯和瓜地馬拉。

leaving thousands of farmers and workers jobless.

使成千上萬的農民和工人失業。

The companies then felled extensive tracts of rainforests

這些公司隨後砍伐了大片雨林

in order to establish new plantations.

以便建立新的種植園。

After World War II,

二戰後。

the dictatorships with which United Fruit had partnered in Guatemala and Honduras

與聯合水果公司在瓜地馬拉和洪都拉斯合作的獨裁政權的情況

yielded to democratically elected governments that called for land reform.

屈服於要求進行土地改革的民選政府。

In Guatemala, President Jacobo Arbenz tried to buy back land from United Fruit

在瓜地馬拉，總統雅各布-阿本茨試圖從聯合水果公司買回土地。

and redistribute it to landless farmers.

並將其重新分配給無地農民。

The Arbenz government offered to pay a price based on tax records—

阿本茨政府提出根據稅收記錄支付價格--。

where United Fruit had underreported the value of the land.

聯合水果公司少報土地價值的地方。

El Pulpo was not happy.

El Pulpo不高興了。

The company launched propaganda campaigns against Arbenz

該公司開展了反對Arbenz的宣傳活動。

and called on its deep connections in the US Government for help.

並呼籲其在美國政府中的深厚關係尋求幫助。

Citing fears of communism, the CIA orchestrated the overthrow

中情局以對共產主義的恐懼為由，策劃推翻了

of the democratically elected Arbenz in 1954.

1954年民選的阿本茨的。

That same year in Honduras, thousands of United Fruit workers went on strike

同年，在洪都拉斯，數千名聯合水果公司的工人舉行了罷工。

until the company agreed to recognize a new labor union.

直到公司同意承認一個新的工會。

With the political and economic costs of running from Panama Disease escalating,

隨著逃離巴拿馬病的政治和經濟成本不斷攀升。

United Fruit finally switched from Gros Michel

聯合水果公司終於從Gros Michel換成了

to Panama disease-resistant Cavendish bananas in the early 1960s.

20世紀60年代初，對巴拿馬抗病的卡文迪許香蕉。

Today, bananas are no longer as economically vital in Central America,

如今，香蕉在中美洲已不再具有重要的經濟意義。

and United Fruit Company, rechristened Chiquita,

和聯合水果公司，重新命名為Chiquita。

has lost its stranglehold on Latin American politics.

已經失去了對拉美政治的扼制。

But the modern banana industry isn't without problems.

但現代香蕉產業也不是沒有問題。

Cavendish bananas require frequent applications of pesticides

卡文迪什香蕉需要經常施用殺蟲劑。

that create hazards for farmworkers and ecosystems.

對農民工和生態系統造成危害的。

And though they're resistant to the particular pathogen

雖然它們對特殊的病原體有抵抗力。

that affected Gros Michel bananas,

影響格羅斯-米歇爾香蕉的。

Cavendish farms also lack biological diversity,

卡文迪許農場也缺乏生物多樣性。

leaving the banana trade ripe for another pandemic.

使香蕉貿易成為另一種流行病的成熟期。