There Will Be Bananas

[0] Christian nationalists want to turn America into a theocracy, a government under biblical rule.

[1] If they gain more power, it could mean fewer rights for you.

[2] I'm Heath Drusin, and on the new season of Extremely American, I'll take you inside the movement.

[3] Listen to Extremely American from Boise State Public Radio, part of the NPR network.

[4] Right now, bananas are so ubiquitous in our lives that we can't imagine life without them.

[5] But I don't think there was anything magical about the banana in and of itself that made it such an entrepreneurial success.

[6] I think it was a lot of luck, changing culture, brutality, people willing to practice that, and all these little pieces come together to create this market that probably never should have existed.

[7] I'm Dabdel Fattah.

[8] I'm Ramtin Adablui.

[9] And on this episode, how one entrepreneur made bananas big business and changed the world for better and for worse.

[10] On most days, I spend at least part of the morning preparing my four -year -old son's favorite breakfast, a banana.

[11] And there are a few things more fun than cutting it up, putting it on a plate, and watching him enjoy every bite.

[12] So a few months ago, when I heard about a disease that's been tearing through banana plantations in Asia, Africa, and now South America, obviously, I got concerned.

[13] I thought, is this it?

[14] Game over.

[15] No more bananas from my son.

[16] No more chances for me to watch him eat them.

[17] But then, Rundan I started asking some questions.

[18] Like, why do we even eat bananas?

[19] And when did this fruit become such a big part of our diet in America and around the world?

[20] So, to answer those questions, Run decided to travel to the place where it all began.

[21] This is the birthplace of the Banana Empire, the port city of Limon, which sits on the eastern coast of Costa Rica.

[22] My name is Sergio, Boulanus.

[23] Sergio has been giving walking tours of Limon for the past five years.

[24] I went on this tour with Sergio early in the morning and we started the tour at Parque Vargas.

[25] But the main attraction was across the street from this park.

[26] Now, this is the palace.

[27] I like to call it a palace, by the way.

[28] It's like the headquarters of the United Fruit Company outside of the United States.

[29] Headquarters of the, you know, like the biggest company ever.

[30] The building is hard to miss. It takes up nearly the entire block.

[31] And whereas most of Limon is filled with Victorian -style buildings, usually made of wood or concrete, this building is very boxy, minimalist, and made of steel, American steel.

[32] It's two stories, but seems bigger because the ceilings are really high.

[33] A row of big red windows with green framing lines each floor.

[34] It's totally different.

[35] It looks like a train station.

[36] It does.

[37] Right?

[38] Okay, so what exactly is this United Fruit Company that he's talking about?

[39] Okay, United Fruit is the company responsible for making bananas an international commodity.

[40] And that distinct kind of bold, industrialist vibe of its headquarters is a perfect reflection of the company's practices.

[41] And Sergio says the mastermind behind the company, a guy named Minor Cooper Keith, had a corner office.

[42] From there, he had a perfect view of the ocean, the port.

[43] There used to be a train station over there.

[44] And at one point, the actual train station.

[45] Actually, the train was the project that started everything for Limon.

[46] No train, no Limon.

[47] When we come back, how mine or Keith managed to bring a city to life.

[48] And in the process, built an empire.

[49] This is Henry Weaver from Roastrow, New York.

[50] And you're listening to Thruvine from NPR.

[51] Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise.

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[53] With Wise, you can send and spend money internationally at the mid -market exchange rate.

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[55] Learn more about how Wise could work for you at Wise .com.

[56] Part 1.

[57] Welcome to the jungle.

[58] There's a story I heard over and over when I was in Limon, a kind of local legend.

[59] It takes place in 1502, the year Christopher Columbus set.

[60] sail on his fourth voyage across the Atlantic.

[61] As Columbus was sailing down the Caribbean coast, the winds blew him towards Costa Rica, and he happened upon a small island just off the coast of Limon.

[62] Today it's called Uvita Island, or Little Grape Island.

[63] Legend has it, Columbus was so taken with the beauty of this place and the seeming hospitality of the indigenous people who had appeared on the shore, that he anchored at Uvita Island.

[64] Columbus was suffering from gout and couldn't get off the ship, so his son got off instead.

[65] He traveled into the jungle and spent several days with the indigenous people there.

[66] When he returned to the ship, he reported that he'd seen advanced cities in the most unlikely place, a place seemingly impossible to conquer, and that he was treated with the utmost respect.

[67] Columbus asked what this place was called, and maybe it was the way his ears processed the indigenous name, or maybe he just thought the place deserved to be called the rich coast.

[68] Whatever it was, his son replied, Costa Rica.

[69] Columbus and his crew set sail once more, continuing their journey towards the Indies.

[70] And for centuries after, the eastern shores of Costa Rica remained mostly untouched by Western powers.

[71] Then came Minor Cooper Keith.

[72] This was a time when rugged men went out to make their name.

[73] in the world.

[74] A time when the American entrepreneur was king.

[75] It's the Teddy Roosevelt era.

[76] It's the era of machismo, of doing things.

[77] Women were excluded, people of color excluded, but men like Minor Keith, the world belonged to them.

[78] It was theirs for the taking.

[79] Minor Keith had grown up in Brooklyn, New York, and he had become a cattle rancher in Texas.

[80] You know, it's a very common motif in America for sort of patrician or urban types to sort of become cowboys.

[81] This is writer Dan Copel.

[82] I sometimes pretentiously like to call myself a thing biographer.

[83] I write about the histories of objects, and I'm best known for writing a book called Banana, The Fate of the Fruit, and The Change the World.

[84] Dan says this shift towards aggressive entrepreneurship started around the time of the Civil War, when communication and transportation networks rapidly expanded, thanks to advances in mining and agriculture, which entice people to develop new lands.

[85] Railroads began moving people west, and the world seemed ripe for the taking.

[86] They're gold rush people, basically.

[87] All these American business people were trying to find some form of gold.

[88] So any business that could make them a lot of money?

[89] Right, and Minor Keith, the city kid from a wealthy family, who had tried his hand at running a cattle ranch, at being a cowboy, was at heart a budding entrepreneur.

[90] He wanted to make it really big, to be among the Carnegie's and Rockefellers of the world.

[91] And he thought railroads might be that business for him.

[92] You know, in the United States, there's a railroad building boom, but it's controlled by moguls, by conglomerates, by people who are already rich.

[93] There's not a lot of room for entrepreneurship.

[94] There's not a lot of room for a Brooklyn -born, Texas cattle rancher to sort of become a big wheel.

[95] So Keith decided to look beyond the U .S. for opportunities.

[96] His uncle was working on railroads in Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica, and invited him to come there.

[97] At the time, there was very little infrastructure in Central America.

[98] These were villages with dirt roads.

[99] But people were determined to find a way to the Pacific through Central America, what Columbus had wanted to do.

[100] Why Central America?

[101] Because of the unimaginable, or imagined, let's say, rich, that might happen there.

[102] Things like coffee, minerals, maybe actual gold.

[103] And even though Keith knew pretty much nothing about Costa Rica, he figured, hell, why not?

[104] I can do this.

[105] This is my chance to make it big, whatever challenges may come.

[106] But on the flip side, he probably thought, if I build this railroad, then I'll have access to all those riches.

[107] I think what Minor Keith understood was that if you, You build infrastructure in these places where there is no infrastructure, and you make the right financial deals by hook or by crook honestly or dishonestly.

[108] You are going to get very rich, and you're going to get very, very powerful.

[109] And Keith had another more lofty goal.

[110] In those days, it was looked at as almost bringing civilization, bringing progress to these poor souls who otherwise would be living naked in the jungle.

[111] That was the way it was seen.

[112] So there was this element of mission and manifest destiny that we really don't understand today or that we understand better as being quite an, you know, not very good thing.

[113] If you're wondering why a government would open their arms to a fairly inexperienced foreign businessman, it's pretty simple.

[114] They needed the help.

[115] They wanted to find a way to export their coffee crops, the country's main export, to Europe.

[116] And to do that, they needed to tap into their eastern coast.

[117] And it was the jungle.

[118] The jungle.

[119] Up until the 1870s, most of Costa Rica east of the capital, San Jose, was completely undeveloped, just miles and miles of nearly impenetrable rainforest.

[120] The Spanish had made few inroads there.

[121] They'd killed and resettled some indigenous communities, but they didn't actually manage to build much.

[122] Now, minor Keith would attempt it.

[123] And I have to say, when you're actually there, you realize how far -fetched this must have seemed.

[124] I imagine it's just like endless trees and animals and rain.

[125] Yeah, it's very, it's beautiful, but it's very rugged terrain.

[126] And every square inch is basically green.

[127] I mean, dense beyond belief.

[128] You look up, and it's just webs of winding branches and leaves.

[129] So many different ecosystems, forests, mountains, wetlands, beaches, huge volcanoes, drive three hours in any direction, and you'll probably experience all of them.

[130] There are monkeys everywhere, plus all sorts of other animals, some deadly.

[131] I actually saw a tarantula and a snake while I was there.

[132] Not me. I know.

[133] I wouldn't.

[134] I wouldn't know.

[135] No, I don't play that.

[136] From a distance?

[137] No, I don't do wild, scary animals.

[138] It actually wasn't that far off from the trail.

[139] Keith wanted to build a railroad through all of that, stretching 100 miles from San Jose to Limon.

[140] It wasn't an easy task.

[141] We have to say that.

[142] This is Victor Okunia Ortega.

[143] He's a professor emeritus at the University of Costa Rica.

[144] He faced technological challenges, environmental challenges, and financial challenges.

[145] I mean, this was really, really crazy.

[146] In 1872, Keith began construction in Limon.

[147] At first, he recruited Costa Rica's population to build the railroad.

[148] which at the time was very small.

[149] But as the project got underway, many began to realize just how difficult and dangerous it was.

[150] They are tearing the jungle down with hand tools.

[151] The work conditions were very, very hard because of the climate, because the tropical diseases.

[152] Yellow fever, malaria, dysentery, you know, everything you could die out there.

[153] They die of wounds.

[154] Trees would sometimes fall on them.

[155] It rained a lot of the time, so they were often working in mud.

[156] If they got any sort of cut or wound, it could easily become infected.

[157] And mosquitoes were everywhere, some carrying diseases.

[158] So after a little while, Costa Ricans laid down their tools.

[159] They were like, we're not going to do this because no job is worth dying for.

[160] Construction stalled, and Keith was back at square one.

[161] He had to find workers somewhere else.

[162] You know, luckily or unluckily, there's.

[163] this huge immigrant population in the United States.

[164] And so Keith returns to the U .S. and hires a couple of thousand Italian immigrants.

[165] And he tempts them.

[166] You know, he says, we're going to pay you a lot of money.

[167] We're going to give you a lot of work.

[168] He also brought workers from China and parts of Europe.

[169] And once they get down there and they hear what's happening and they see what's happening and they see how dangerous it is, they begin going AWOL.

[170] It was a total disaster.

[171] I mean, they were dying at levels equivalent to deaths on the beaches of Normandy.

[172] Hundreds died, then thousands.

[173] In part, because these men had never been to the tropics, so they weren't used to the climate or its diseases.

[174] And the work was just really grueling.

[175] Among the workers who died on this project were Keith's two brothers.

[176] So this was deadly, not just for the poor souls who were sort of suckered into coming, and working on it, but the guys at the very top as well.

[177] Progress was slow, and money was tight.

[178] A few years into the project, they were 30 miles from their end goal, San Jose.

[179] But Keith remained determined and desperate for workers.

[180] He decided to recruit prisoners.

[181] Hopeless prisoners, people in jail in New Orleans, people who have no way out.

[182] And he basically calls for volunteers.

[183] And he says, anybody who volunteers helps me build my railroad to completion is going to get a pardon.

[184] 700 prisoners volunteer, but only 25 prisoners survive to get their pardons.

[185] 25 out of 700.

[186] I mean, the absolute persistence and scrappiness on Keith's part, like bringing in group after group, even prisoners, so many deaths, including his own brothers, is like both horrifying.

[187] But also, like, Daniel will play view from There Will Be Blood, inspiring.

[188] You know what I mean?

[189] Yeah, like, absolutely hell -bent on just, like, getting this done.

[190] It's like that scene in There Will Be Blood where his, they discover oil and it causes this huge, like, fire.

[191] And his son gets hurt and, like, goes deaf.

[192] But all he can think about is, like, the money that basically discovered.

[193] That's exactly what this is.

[194] I mean, this guy, Minor Keith, he was ruthless, right?

[195] Like, it was just a process of trial and error for him.

[196] People would die, he'd find more, they died, more came.

[197] He was relentless.

[198] Eventually, Minor Keith figured out that if he brought Jamaicans over from the Caribbean, they would have an easier time working on his railroad since they spoke English and were used to the climate.

[199] Thing is, by this point, Minor Keith had another problem.

[200] He'd burned through millions of dollars and was nearly out of money.

[201] And the Costa Rican government, which is sort of funding this thing, partially also goes broke.

[202] I mean, at this point, most people would just throw in a towel and go home.

[203] That's the logical thing to do, probably.

[204] Mm -hmm.

[205] But instead...

[206] Keith goes to England.

[207] And he borrows 1 .2 million pounds.

[208] Which is, I think, about the equivalent of maybe $150, $200 million today.

[209] Then he goes back to Costa Rica and proposes a new deal to the government.

[210] This sort of crazy deal.

[211] He says, I'll build a railroad for free.

[212] In return, you give me 99 years.

[213] Concessional on the route, I have 800 ,000 acres of land tax -free alongside the tracks, and I have full control of the port at Limon.

[214] Not a great deal for the Costa Rican government, but they were in a pretty bad position at this point and just needed to finish the railroad.

[215] You know, I don't know what prompted the president to accept it, but I'm going to guess that, you know, these guys also wanted to modernize their countries.

[216] They saw railroads as needed.

[217] And people love building monuments to themselves.

[218] What greater monument than a railroad in a place that was all jungle?

[219] Keith probably understood that.

[220] He seemed to know which carts to play when.

[221] And he knew how desperately the Costa Rican government wanted to build that railroad to export coffee.

[222] Minor kid, he was a very good entrepreneur.

[223] He was too very able to negotiate.

[224] And he was able to put himself with somebody indispensable for the Costa Rican government, who was capable of finishing the railroad.

[225] It also helped that Keith was tight with the political elite in Costa Rica, so close that...

[226] He was able to marry the daughter of one of the most important person in Costa Rica in the 19th century, Dr. Jose Maria Castro -Madris.

[227] Jose Maria Castro -Madris had served two terms as president of Costa Rica.

[228] He isconses himself in Costa Rican society by marrying the president's daughter.

[229] He was able to become a part of the running class in Costa Rica.

[230] He knew how to win people over.

[231] Those elites loved Minor Keith, and he was their patron, really.

[232] So work on the railroad continued.

[233] And at this point, Keith had like really managed to dig himself out of a hole, right?

[234] Absolutely.

[235] I mean, now he had the support of the country.

[236] a workforce that could handle the climate, total control of the port of Limon, and 800 ,000 acres of tax -free land.

[237] And what he did with that land at first was he grew bananas.

[238] And he didn't grow them to make money.

[239] He grew them to feed his workers, the ones who weren't dying by the dozen or two -dozen.

[240] As an American, Keith had little experience with bananas.

[241] They weren't really available in the U .S. since they only grow in tropical climates.

[242] But around this time, some people were beginning to experiment with ways to bring bananas...

[243] This rare tropical fruit...