Beginning of the 20th Century Banana Massacre – Carla Cruz Aya How would you react if the place where you work did not treat you as it should be, and when you decide to speak up to say how you feel, they kill you? Well, this is what happened to the workers of the multinational United Fruit Company in 1928 in Ciénaga-Colombia, they decided to protest their treatment. However, their protest for a change in working conditions resulted in a great massacre. Colombia is a country that has been characterized by the mistakes of its leaders, and this massacre was no exception. Thousands of inhabitants died at the hands of the national army trying to change an unjust system, so why did the government make such an unpleasant decision to kill its citizens? Perhaps you have already heard of Magdalena, one of the departments of Colombia full of nature, although this was the bananera zone where all the misfortune occurred. In the first half of the 20th century, the bananera zone occupied more than 40,000 hectares of surface; it was in Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta. The production of this area occupied an important place in the world market since bananas were traded with foreign countries. The United Fruit Company started with the commercialization of bananas; it exploited the land investing in infrastructure to convert certain land into urban centers. Due to all the production and exploitation of bananas, The United Fruit Company managed to be a multinational company, managing to obtain money with all the actions that it carried out, therefore it had great socioeconomic power. This company provided several job opportunities; however, the company did not treat the workers with dignity. For this reason, on November 12, 1928, the plantation workers called a strike which was attended by more than 25,000 who were there for the same reason, demand the company to comply the Colombian laws “They wanted to pressure the United Fruit Company to
1
