Oral Presentations and Performances: Session III
Project Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Jody Pavilack
Faculty Mentor’s Department
History
Abstract / Artist's Statement
This paper examines the U.S. foreign policy response to the 1954 Honduran General Strike, where nearly 15% of the workforce mobilized against the exploitative practices of the United Fruit Company (UFCO). What began as a labor dispute among dock workers on Honduras’ northern coast quickly escalated into a nationwide protest, drawing support from students, teachers, and artisans against the UFCO and the national oligarchic elite. Using State Department documents, CIA reports, and media coverage from Time and The New York Times, this study analyzes how U.S. officials in Honduras and Washington, D.C. responded to the strike. Despite a history of supporting corporate interests, U.S. policymakers took an uncharacteristically pro-labor stance, siding against the UFCO. My research shows that this shift was driven by Cold War geopolitical concerns. By adopting a pro-labor position in Honduras, the U.S. sought to prevent Communist influence from neighboring Guatemala, where Jacobo Arbenz’s nationalist administration had legalized the Communist Party and expropriated UFCO land. To avoid similar radicalization in Honduras, U.S. officials worked to end the strike on terms favorable to the workers. This research highlights how U.S. policymakers viewed and responded to events in Honduras within the broader Cold War context.
Category
Humanities
A Good Neighbor Gone Bad: Exploring U.S. Foreign Policy, Corporate Interests, and the Rise of Communist Activity in Guatemala and Honduras, 1954
UC 331
This paper examines the U.S. foreign policy response to the 1954 Honduran General Strike, where nearly 15% of the workforce mobilized against the exploitative practices of the United Fruit Company (UFCO). What began as a labor dispute among dock workers on Honduras’ northern coast quickly escalated into a nationwide protest, drawing support from students, teachers, and artisans against the UFCO and the national oligarchic elite. Using State Department documents, CIA reports, and media coverage from Time and The New York Times, this study analyzes how U.S. officials in Honduras and Washington, D.C. responded to the strike. Despite a history of supporting corporate interests, U.S. policymakers took an uncharacteristically pro-labor stance, siding against the UFCO. My research shows that this shift was driven by Cold War geopolitical concerns. By adopting a pro-labor position in Honduras, the U.S. sought to prevent Communist influence from neighboring Guatemala, where Jacobo Arbenz’s nationalist administration had legalized the Communist Party and expropriated UFCO land. To avoid similar radicalization in Honduras, U.S. officials worked to end the strike on terms favorable to the workers. This research highlights how U.S. policymakers viewed and responded to events in Honduras within the broader Cold War context.