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Bananagate
The Union of Banana Exporting Countries ( es, Unión de Países Exportadores de Banano or UPEB) was a cartel of Central and South American banana exporting countries established in 1974, inspired by OPEC. Its aim was to achieve better remuneration from the North American banana trade oligopoly, which consisted of three US companies. UPEB's proposal of an export tax was undermined by the U.S. oligopoly bribing Honduran and Italian officials. The UPEB cartel collapsed when bribes became public. What is referred to as the Bananagate scandal paved the way for the U.S. Congress to create the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. History In 1974, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama joined in an attempt to form a banana-exporting country cartel focusing on exports to the North American market. The Philippines was the only major exporter of bananas to the United States which did not join. The market for banana exports to Europe at this time was qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable worldwide and extends specifically to publicly traded companies and their personnel, including officers, directors, employees, shareholders, and agents. Following amendments made in 1998, the Act also applies to foreign firms and persons who, either directly or through intermediaries, help facilitate or carry out corrupt payments in U.S. territory. Pursuant to its anti-bribery purpose, the FCPA amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require all companies with securities listed in the U.S. to meet certain accounting provisions, such as ensuring accurate and transparent financial records and maintaining internal accounting controls. The FCPA is jointly enforced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commissi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oswaldo López Arellano
Oswaldo Enrique López Arellano (30 June 1921 – 16 May 2010) was a Honduran politician who twice served as the President of Honduras, first from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1972 until 1975. Early life Lopez was born in Danlí to Enrique López and Carlota Arellano in the department of El Paraíso, an influential family. He joined the Army at eighteen and subsequently graduated as a pilot from the Honduran Air Force School. He then spent 1942-1945 in the U.S. state of Arizona studying mechanical aviation. López served as a colonel for numerous years and eventually rose to the rank of general. Career López briefly fought for on a military junta during 1957, which ended after democratic elections were secured. After a violent coup, he served as president for the first time from 3 October 1963 until 7 June 1971 before allowing further elections ( 1971 Honduran general election) to take place in April 1971. They ultimately resulted in Ramón Ernesto Cruz coming to power. On 4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Fruit
The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 from the merger of the Boston Fruit Company with Minor C. Keith's banana-trading enterprises. It flourished in the early and mid-20th century, and it came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia and the West Indies. Although it competed with the Standard Fruit Company (later Dole Food Company) for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics – such as Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. United Fruit had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquartered in Vienna, Austria, although Austria is not an OPEC member state. , the 13 member countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 81.5 % of the world's proven oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by the so-called " Seven Sisters" grouping of multinational oil companies. The formation of OPEC marked a turning point toward national sovereignty over natural resources, and OPEC decisions have come to play a prominent role in the global oil market and international relations. The effect can be particularly strong when wars or civil disorders lead to extended interruptions in supply. In the 1970s, restrictions in oil production led to a dramatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Central America
Central America is commonly said to include Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. This definition matches modern political borders. Central America begins geographically in Mexico, at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico's narrowest point, and the former country of Yucatán (1841–1848) was part of Central America. At the other end, before its independence in 1903 Panama was part of South America, as it was a Department of Colombia. At times Belize, a British colony until 1981, where English instead of Spanish is spoken, and where the population is primarily of African origin, has been considered not part of (Spanish-speaking) Central America.Long and narrow, Central America does not have an obvious geographical center. Until the middle of the 20th century there were no roads between the countries, which isolated them from each other, and railroads have never connected them. During colonial times Guatemala was the administrative and religious ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Agriculture
Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, cash crops (normally crops grown for export) are also included in the definition. When people discuss the tropics, it is normal to use generalized labels to group together similar tropical areas. Common terms would include the humid-tropics ( rainforests); the arid-tropics (deserts and dry areas); or monsoon zones (those areas that have well defined wet/dry seasons and experience monsoons). Such labeling is very useful when discussing agriculture, because what works in one area of the world will normally work in a similar area somewhere else, even if that area is on the opposite side of the globe. Most temperate zone agricultural techniques are inappropriate for tropical areas. The second half of the 20th century saw many attempts to dup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banana Production
The banana industry is an important part of the global industrial agrobusiness. About 15% of the global banana production goes to export and international trade for consumption in Western countries. They are grown on banana plantations primarily in the Americas. Ecological impact As is the case with all monocultures, the intensive agroindustrial methods for banana production have considerable environmental impact. Banana cultivation requires a large amount of pesticide (estimate: ) and can encourage ecosystem destruction through deforestation. Moreover, food miles and plastic packaging leave a large carbon footprint. Cash crop In 2012 the volume of global gross banana exports reached a record high of , 1.1 million tonnes (or 7.3 percent) above 2011 level. Bananas are the most popular fruit in the United States, with more consumed annually than apples and oranges combined. In spite of the multitude of banana species across the world, even only taking into account the cultivate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banana Republic
In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring countries under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International). Typically, a banana republic has a society of extremely stratified social classes, usually a large impoverished working class and a ruling class plutocracy, composed of the business, political, and military elites. The ruling class controls the primary sector of the economy by way of the exploitation of labor; thus, the term ''banana republic'' is a pejorative descriptor for a servile oligarchy that abets and supports, for kickbacks, the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, especially banana cultivation. A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, whereby the country is op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. In 2021, Vault.com ranked Covington & Burling as the #1 law firm in Washington, D.C. The firm has additional offices in Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Seoul, and Shanghai. History Judge J. Harry Covington and Edward B. Burling founded Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, on January 1, 1919. In 1988, Covington opened a London office, followed by a Brussels office in 1990. In 1999, Covington merged with a 60-lawyer New York firm called Howard, Smith & Levin and also opened its first West Coast office in San Francisco. In 2008, Covington entered into a strategic alliance with Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy (iQ), a Qatar-based transnational law firm and think-tank, for the joint provision of legal a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Securities And Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market manipulation. In addition to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created it, the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, and other statutes. The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (now codified as and commonly referred to as the Exchange Act or the 1934 Act). Overview The SEC has a three-part mission: to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. To achieve its mandate, the SEC enforces the statutory requirement that public companies and other regulated companies submit quarterly and annual reports ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state of New York. Located near the southern tip of New York State, Manhattan is based in the Eastern Time Zone and constitutes both the geographical and demographic center of the Northeast megalopolis and the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. Over 58 million people live within 250 miles of Manhattan, which serves as New York City’s economic and administrative center, cultural identifier, and the city’s historical birthplace. Manhattan has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, is considered a safe haven for global real estate investors, and hosts the United Nations headquarters. New York City is the headquarters of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pan Am Building
The MetLife Building (also 200 Park Avenue and formerly the Pan Am Building) is a skyscraper at Park Avenue and 45th Street (Manhattan), 45th Street, north of Grand Central Terminal, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed in the International Style (architecture), International style by Richard Roth, Walter Gropius, and Pietro Belluschi and completed in 1962, the MetLife Building is tall with 59 stories. It was advertised as the world's largest commercial office space by square footage at its opening, with of usable office space. , the MetLife Building remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States. The MetLife Building contains an elongated octagonal massing with the longer axis perpendicular to Park Avenue. The building sits atop two levels of railroad tracks leading into Grand Central Terminal. The facade is one of the first precast concrete exterior walls in a building in New York City. In the lobby is a pedestrian passage to Grand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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