Dear students and readers:
This is to confirm that we have generously welcomed and accepted the prospect of a well-deserved staycation. Officially, all academic activities in the educational economic sector will enter Holy Week vacations as of this Friday. We celebrate Easter time, and El Salvador takes a week off. Eleonora Escalante Strategy will take a few of these days to recharge batteries. However, we will publish Episode 12, Banana Republics-Central America, on April 3rd.

The analysis of the banana plantations in Central America is extremely delicate. Beyond the facts written by economists and historians, the topic is contentious and difficult because it touches the foreign affairs of the USA at its core in this region. Additionally, at the time of the introduction of bananas, Europe was immersed in a problematic context of the new Marxist ideology, which was causing a tremendous cataclysm in Russia. Particularly, after the assassination of Emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovic Romanov (one of the top members of several Northern German and Baltic dynasties, including the Oldenburg, Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, Hessen-Kassel, and Mecklenburg Schwerin). This terrible martyrdom included his wife, Alexandra Hessen-Darmstadt Hohenzollern/Saxe Coburg-Gotha Hannover, and his 5 children in 1917.

What is the relation between the geopolitical effervescent European conflicts and the origin phase of the Banana Republics in Central America? The banana business model affected the labor relations of the landless populations of the region with the planters, who were backed and supported by the USA. The new left philosophy that hit Russia was spreading all over Spanish America, and it was antagonistic to the American Empire’s interests in the Kingdom of Guatemala. The tribulations, reactions, and complex situation between the plantations’ indentured labor and their lords were framed into a defensive strategy to keep Central America out of those European troubles.
The banana operations of these foreign companies can´t be analyzed lightly. With our period of holy week vacations, apart from relaxing a bit, we will use these days to reflect on these controversial issues, trying to see the facts beyond the superficial, analyzing beyond the currently accepted bananas farmsteads´ logic and rationale. Again, we will keep our analysis to the time frame between the 1880s and 1930s, well before what was known as the direct intervention of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with the governments of the region.

We wish a well-merited week of rejoicing to celebrate the memorial for Christ, who not only resurrected, but has risen and defeated the obscure and malign power of death. Christ is alive. Regardless of your faith. May God’s love fill your home and heart this Easter season.

Loving Easter blessings a tous.