Already living in a country stricken with high levels of poverty – the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere - Nicaraguan banana workers, or banañeros, persevere through days full of physical and emotional exhaustion as a result of years of contact with the harmful pesticide know as Nemagon. While the negative effects of contact with Nemagon have been known to inflict serious health issues such as cancer and birth defects, the major corporations that employ them, Dole Food Company, Standard Fruit, Dow Chemical Co., and Amvac Chemical Co., still chose to export the product to countries such as Nicaragua for use on their banana farms. According to many of the Nicaraguans who suffer from these ailments, these multi-nationals did not caution the workers beforehand of the risks involved with Neamgon’s use.

While Nemagon is very effective in protecting various types of crops from nematodes, pests that feed on roots, it is actually a highly toxic and harmful substance that is more accurately known as Dibromochloropropane (DBCP). First synthesized in the 1950’s by Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Chemicals, DBCP was marketed as a miracle product and used worldwide. Then, in the 1970s, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned it from circulation and declared it harmful. Many United States public health officials admit that DBCP is highly dangerous and should have never reached circulation. Yet, it has continued to be released into foreign circulation and has taken a heavy toll on those it has come into contact with.

The use of DBCP in the banana fields of Nicaragua has inflicted immense physical and psychological damage upon the banañeros and their families. Studies in both humans and animals have found that DBCP can cause low sperm counts and infertility in men, as well as kidney and liver damage. Mental deficiencies, cancers, genetic malformations, spontaneous abortions, bone deformations, eyesight loss, hair loss, hormonal disturbances, and severe diarrhea have all been health concerns associated with those who have spent years of their lives in contact with DBCP. Throughout the years there have been numerous reports on workers’ children who have been born with extreme deformities. Along with the long list of devastating physical affects DBCP can inflict, banañeros and their families often are confused, and demoralized as they continue to wait for help from the large corporations’ that employ them.

The banañeros spend their lives working long hours to provide themselves and their families with the most stable living conditions that they can manage. Their shelters however, often consist of no more than a few plastic sheets tied together with twine or duct tape and attached to tree limbs or any stationary object that is available. Their shelters are flimsy and without ventilation. The baking sun can raise interior temperatures to well above 120 degree (F). The shelters and the tent-city where they are situated in downtown Managua are crowded, unsanitary, without amenities, and unfit for a healthy living.

Life challenges these diligent banana workers further as they find themselves forced to respond to medical issues that they can neither afford to fix nor comprehend. One banañero claimed, “Nobody told us anything. For two years, I applied Nemagon without mask, gloves or protective clothing.
You pump it directly into the ground. Sometimes, the pressure made the liquid splash right in your face.”

While some companies claimed to put labels on most distributions of the products, oftentimes the labels were in English. Even if the labels were written in Spanish it is unlikely they would have been understood considering a high percentage of the Nicaraguan banana workers are illiterate. Simply put, the banañeros find themselves hardly able to afford medical attention for issues that could have been avoided had they been warned. Many workers are seeking financial compensation from the companies that supplied them with DBCP.

When a Nicaraguan judge ruled Dow Chemical, Shell Chemical, and Standard Fruit liable for 468 banana workers affected by DBCP and ordered them to pay millions of dollars in compensation, the companies did not recognize the ruling. As a result, the workers were forced to file suit in the United States in attempt to have the judgment from the Nicaraguan court enforced. Both the companies involved and the workers refused to go down without a fight.

In the United Sates courts, suspicion of fraudulent testimonies tainted progress for the banañeros. On July 15th, 2010, a Federal Court Judge in California, Victoria Cheney, ruled the case Tellez vs. Dole in favor of Dole, proposing a conspiracy and corruption in the Nicaraguan legal system. Earlier, in 2009, similar cases were thrown out in response to secret witnesses working for Dole claiming fraud on the workers testimonies, despite later confessions from the apparent ‘secret witnesses’ that spoke otherwise.

While they have endured several unsuccessful attempts at justice, the banañeros have managed to find some success to rekindle their spirits of hope. The Nicaraguan government has begun preparing land for 400 homes that will be built in Managua as part of the Houses for the People Program. The homes will be for former banana workers who have suffered damage to their health due to exposure to DBCP. Also, with help from attorney Juan Dominguez, thirteen banañeros will receive a total of $300,000 as a result of an out-of-court settlement with Amvac. While Amvac is the smallest of the companies under allegation and also denies any guilt in the matter, the banañeros have at least taken a step towards the justice they’ve been longing for. Growing concern has brought many multinationals who are involved in the banana industry to claim that they are now “making efforts to conduct their business in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.”

As time progresses, many banañeros continue to fear that the financial compensation they seek will never reach them. Lawsuits continue and the workers battle to live their lives in the face of poverty and serious medical conditions. They can only have hope that the corporations involved in DBCP distribution will assume responsibility for their choices that have left a devastating impact on the well-being of thousands of innocent people. The banañeros pray every day for justice to make its appearance.

*Bananas! is a movie that has been made based on the banana workers’ plight and their attempts to bring multi-nationals to justice. Visit http://www.bananasthemovie.com/ for additional information about Bananas! and the current status of the lawsuits.