A recent English-language article in Spain’s El País is entitled Indigenous Guatemalans denounce exploitation on Mexican farms: ‘Bananas are worth more than us’. It’s about Guatemalans working on banana plantations in the Mexican state of Chiapas (bordering Guatemala).
From the article: “…hundreds of Guatemalans work every day on the banana plantations of Chiapas. Many of them are Indigenous, mostly from the Q’eqchi’ Maya region that encompasses the Guatemalan departments (states) of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Petén and Izabal. Most don’t speak a word of Spanish, or they speak very little: it’s difficult for them to understand the tasks assigned to them. Sometimes, they don’t even know exactly where they are, or how much they’re going to earn.”
About the banana business: “Mexico is one of the leading banana producers and exporters in Latin America. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), the country produces around 2.5 million tons annually, primarily in the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz and Colima, which together account for more than 80% of the national total. Chiapas alone contributes nearly 30% of that production, with municipalities like Tapachula, Mazatán and Suchiate being veritable banana-growing enclaves. The fruit produced in Chiapas not only supplies a large part of the domestic market, but also supports a significant export network to the United States, Europe and Asia.”
What company is the main buyer of Chiapas bananas?
“The main buyer of bananas produced in Chiapas is Chiquita Brands International, formerly known as the United Fruit Company. The firm is responsible for some of the darkest chapters in Latin American agricultural history. Under its corporate umbrella, dozens of farms along Mexico’s southern border operate with strict quality standards. However, according to workers and organizations, it has an exploitative model and offers meager wages. The farm owners have opted to hire cheap labor, mostly from Guatemala.”
Sometimes this cheap labor is legal, sometimes it’s illegal.
“The practice of bringing Guatemalan laborers to work in Chiapas is a long-standing one. And there are two ways to do it. The first is through legal channels established in Article 52 of the Mexican Migration Law, which allows those living in Guatemalan border states to obtain temporary permits to work only in the southern states of Mexico. The other involves people known as ‘coyotes.’ They drive to the Indigenous or peasant villages of northern Guatemala in trucks, recruiting manual laborers to work in southern Mexico for three or four months at a time.”
For many of them that’s it,
“A large number of the workers brought to the banana plantations by coyotes don’t stay long. They work for periods of three or four months and don’t usually return to Mexico again. This is according to Roberto, one of the plantation managers. The workdays are typically 10 to 14 hours long, while the pay is between 200 and 300 pesos per day ($11 to $16).”
The article focuses on several of the workers.
One is a transgender called Nancy who knows Spanish while another is a four-foot tall Guatemalan named Domingo who doesn’t.
“Domingo is a Q’eqchi’ man who arrived in Mexico less than a month ago with Nancy’s group. He doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, nor does he seem to need it for many of his tasks. All day long, he does the same thing: pick, wash, sort. He only stops for lunch. And, while it might not seem like it, that’s when things get complicated.”
“Domingo doesn’t understand when the foreman instructs the workers to go eat, nor does he understand when any other order is shouted out. Back in Guatemala, he also didn’t understand the details when the recruiters told him to get on the truck.”
“Domingo doesn’t know exactly how much he’s going to be paid, or why he sometimes isn’t paid at all. All of his communication with the farm managers, who only speak Spanish, is through his friend Carlos, another Q’eqchi’ man who, in addition to his native tongue, speaks a little Spanish.”
“With Carlos acting as translator, Domingo tells EL PAÍS that he works to support his wife and two daughters. They live back in the village, in Cobán, Guatemala. He explains that he spent more than a decade working on farms in his home region, but the pay was very low and the days were grueling. So, when he saw his neighbors getting on the truck, telling him in Q’eqchi’ that they were heading to Mexico, he thought it would be a good opportunity.”
“ ‘He says what he doesn’t like about the job is sleeping on the floor and that he’s paid very little. Sometimes, only 200 pesos a day (less than $11). He said he didn’t expect that to be his pay,’ Carlos translates.”
“Without knowing the language and without papers, Guatemalan workers like Domingo, Carlos and Nancy, who come to work on the plantations in Chiapas, are at the mercy of whatever a boss says. They never fully know what’s going on around them.”
“ ‘And does Domingo know where he is?’ ”
“ ‘In Mexico,’ Carlos replies.”
“Through Carlos, Domingo is asked if he knows which part of Mexico.”
“ ‘He says in Chiapas. Near the United States, right?’ ”
Carlos and Domingo. Source: Jose Torres