the Game Boy.
For the next sixty years, the United States exerted its imperialist hold on the region, doing everything from applying stern diplomatic pressure to financing government overthrows, while Honduras went through the normal phases of development for a Latin American country: the oral stage, in which it paid lip service to U.S. demands; the anal stage, in which it became obsessive and detail-oriented in complying with these demands; the phallic stage, in which it realized that the United States was a lot bigger than it was; and the genital stage, which led the country to the conclusion that it was completely screwed.
Within a few years of the arrival of the American fruit companies, the true power of the banana had begun to surface. In the past, its capacity to transform three scoops of ice cream into a mighty dessert had been common knowledge; however, it soon became evident that its metamorphic powers stretched to the Honduran political climate as well. Banana companies began placing their employees in local government positions, offering kickbacks to sympathetic politicians, and funding insurgent military groups to topple noncooperative presidents.
In the 1980s, while the United States saw the advent of Cabbage Patch Kids, parachute pants, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Smurfs, Central America too went through tremendous changes. The majority of inhabitants in the region were sick of being poor, sick of being mistreated, sick of the United States, and sick to death of bananas. Hondurasâ rebel neighbors, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, figured that Marxism had nothing to do with any of this unpleasantness and with the help of Cuba and the Soviet Union, launched a successful guerrilla campaign that eventually overthrew the right-wing Anastasio Somoza dictatorship.
This did not make Ronald Reagan very happy. With all the changes going on in this part of the world, his address book was too small to keep crossing out the name of the current leader of Nicaragua, and, besides, this Soviet-Cuban alliance was beginning to reek of communism.
If there was one thing he had learned from U.S. history, it was that presidents were not above the law, but Hollywood celebrities generally were. Hoping that his past as an actor would sway a jury, he illegally sold arms to the Iranians and used these funds to covertly fund the
Contras,
the right-wing Nicaraguan guerrillas determined to defeat the left-wing Sandinista regime. 3 And since Honduras was right next door and practically a U.S. colony, it provided an ideal
Contra
training base.
Eventually the war ended, the threat of communism dissipated, and the U.S. presence in the region waned. Honduras entered a stage of fledgling democracy but remained one of the poorest Latin American nations.
These days, Uncle Samâs influence basically consisted of international aid and a strong diplomatic presence in the region, but my mother still held out hope that there was some secret agenda. In fact, now that Rosa, the underpaid Honduran maid, had taken charge of mopping the floor, scrubbing the bathroom, washing dishes, and ironing the clothes, my mother was devoting the majority of her time to trying to figure out who was CIA among all her new embassy pals.
Based on a string of dubious clues and rampant rumors, my mother had pieced together a list of those she was positive were agents. And whenever one of the embassy people invited her to dinner or a luncheon social, she was sure to attend, trying to gather as much information as possible on what she was convinced was the U.S. secret plan for Central America.
As it turned out, she hadnât been all wrong. My sisters and I couldnât help but giggle when Mom explained that in spite of all her digging and prying, a real CIA agent had been sitting right under her nose. In an attempt to sort out the rumors about James McPherson being a spook, one day she had set her best friend, Maggie, down for chocolate-chip cookies and a
For the next sixty years, the United States exerted its imperialist hold on the region, doing everything from applying stern diplomatic pressure to financing government overthrows, while Honduras went through the normal phases of development for a Latin American country: the oral stage, in which it paid lip service to U.S. demands; the anal stage, in which it became obsessive and detail-oriented in complying with these demands; the phallic stage, in which it realized that the United States was a lot bigger than it was; and the genital stage, which led the country to the conclusion that it was completely screwed.
Within a few years of the arrival of the American fruit companies, the true power of the banana had begun to surface. In the past, its capacity to transform three scoops of ice cream into a mighty dessert had been common knowledge; however, it soon became evident that its metamorphic powers stretched to the Honduran political climate as well. Banana companies began placing their employees in local government positions, offering kickbacks to sympathetic politicians, and funding insurgent military groups to topple noncooperative presidents.
In the 1980s, while the United States saw the advent of Cabbage Patch Kids, parachute pants, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Smurfs, Central America too went through tremendous changes. The majority of inhabitants in the region were sick of being poor, sick of being mistreated, sick of the United States, and sick to death of bananas. Hondurasâ rebel neighbors, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, figured that Marxism had nothing to do with any of this unpleasantness and with the help of Cuba and the Soviet Union, launched a successful guerrilla campaign that eventually overthrew the right-wing Anastasio Somoza dictatorship.
This did not make Ronald Reagan very happy. With all the changes going on in this part of the world, his address book was too small to keep crossing out the name of the current leader of Nicaragua, and, besides, this Soviet-Cuban alliance was beginning to reek of communism.
If there was one thing he had learned from U.S. history, it was that presidents were not above the law, but Hollywood celebrities generally were. Hoping that his past as an actor would sway a jury, he illegally sold arms to the Iranians and used these funds to covertly fund the
Contras,
the right-wing Nicaraguan guerrillas determined to defeat the left-wing Sandinista regime. 3 And since Honduras was right next door and practically a U.S. colony, it provided an ideal
Contra
training base.
Eventually the war ended, the threat of communism dissipated, and the U.S. presence in the region waned. Honduras entered a stage of fledgling democracy but remained one of the poorest Latin American nations.
These days, Uncle Samâs influence basically consisted of international aid and a strong diplomatic presence in the region, but my mother still held out hope that there was some secret agenda. In fact, now that Rosa, the underpaid Honduran maid, had taken charge of mopping the floor, scrubbing the bathroom, washing dishes, and ironing the clothes, my mother was devoting the majority of her time to trying to figure out who was CIA among all her new embassy pals.
Based on a string of dubious clues and rampant rumors, my mother had pieced together a list of those she was positive were agents. And whenever one of the embassy people invited her to dinner or a luncheon social, she was sure to attend, trying to gather as much information as possible on what she was convinced was the U.S. secret plan for Central America.
As it turned out, she hadnât been all wrong. My sisters and I couldnât help but giggle when Mom explained that in spite of all her digging and prying, a real CIA agent had been sitting right under her nose. In an attempt to sort out the rumors about James McPherson being a spook, one day she had set her best friend, Maggie, down for chocolate-chip cookies and a
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