Borderlands: United Fruit Company, Bananas, and Zaculeu Ruins

Today I visited the ruins at Zaculeu with my Spanish teacher, Otto Mendoza. We once again hopped on his moto (like a vespa which I’m starting to love) and went to the ruins that are only about 10 minutes from our house. Zaculeu was the capital of the Mam that occupied the highland region from 200 A.D. until European conquest in 1525. Zaculeu was a central place for trading amongst Mayan tribes, ranging from Palenque, Tikal to Copán.

Otto was an excellent tour guide. However, I was very surprised when he stated that the United Fruit Company was responsible for the restoration at Zaculeu. I knew United Fruit Company (UFC) has been attributed to economic decline and disruption in Guatemala, but what personal interests did they have by restoring the Zacuelu Ruins? Curiosity got the best of me.

The UFC formed as a result of several banana companies that merged in 1899. By 1910, the UFC controlled over 80% of the fruit production and exportation in Central America. The presence of UFC in combination with International Railways of Central America (IRCA), created a monopoly for the U.S. owned companies. As result, Guatemalans suffered because the dictator at the time consolidated exports around a few producers that favored his political interests. He also “sold”, but essentially gave away land to IRCA for railway lines that went through indigenous villages and ruins. For many Maya, this was the first contact with the Western world. The story goes on and many agree the United Fruit was partly responsible for Guatemala’s 36 year civil war, which left 50,000 missing and some 200,000 killed.

Although the evidence seems to support the fact that United Fruit was partly responsible for the atrocities that later inflicted Guatemala, few will say that UFC did offer some benefits. They built hospitals, provided some meager waged jobs on the railroad, and well….”restored” Mayan ruins.

The restoration by the UFC in 1946 left the Zaculeu ruins covered in a white plaster and the original stonework of the ruins is now only visible in a few places. The archeologists on the project were funded by UFC, but it was more a political and economic relationship to the ruins, which is reflected in the result of the restoration. The site was selected because of its proximity to Huehuetenango and in efforts to promote tourism in Guatemalan. Of course, the main reason behind this project was done to put United Fruit in a positive light to the rest of the world. So from what I’ve found, it doesn’t appear the most scientific “archeology” was originally conducted. This isn’t uncommon for early anthropology, which often failed to respect the interests of the local people. Today, the site contains several of the original large temples, a ball court, and plazas. There was a very small “museum” with various pieces obtained during the restoration. However, these items were hardly impressive and apparently profitable items “disappeared” during the restoration. Or as Otto said, “they went to you!” . The ruins were impressive but for the ornaments, gold, textiles, and bananas, I should probably look somewhere in the United States.