Among the multitude of American companies, few stand out like the United Fruit Company. Reviled throughout the world, United Fruit was one of America's first major multinationals. Operating throughout Latin America and selling its products around the world, United Fruit began its business in Costa Rica, a small Central American country nestled between Nicaragua and Panama. General Tomás Guardia's decision to attempt to modernize Costa Rica would prove fateful and forever change the course of Central America. To understand General Guardia's machinations, we must first look briefly at Costa Rica's historical situation. As noted by countless books and articles on the subject, the term “Costa Rica” was a misnomer for the country until the coffee boom of the 1970s. 30s and 40s of the nineteenth century. The “rich coast” was named, according to legend, by Christopher Columbus himself after he landed there in 1502 and saw the natives adorned with gold. Ironically, the natives Columbus witnessed were not natives at all, but invading members of the Caribbean tribe who had brought their gold to this relatively poor place. True to form, Columbus displayed a surprising misinterpretation of the facts and coined the site “Costa Rica” (Watkins). This “discovery” in 1502 would have heralded, as in the rest of Latin America, the end of life as the indigenous people knew it. For the next 300 years Costa Rica would find itself under Spanish control, but this burden was greatly lightened by the absence of the riches so desired by the Europeans. These long centuries under Spanish influence would find Costa Rica in a peripheral position, relatively spared from the harsh rule often employed in more profitable sectors. Ironically, the relative… , and died shortly thereafter (Colby 66, Chapman 38-39). The death of Costa Rica's leader paved the way for Keith to become even more central to the economy and, gifted with 800,000 new acres of land, that is exactly what he did (Colby 67). With unprecedented access to the nation's finances and a government willing to give up as much land as needed, Keith began building his empire. As banana exports continued to create wealth, Keith continued to establish plantations on his Costa Rican lands while overseeing the completion of the railroad. Finally, in 1890, the task initially undertaken by his uncle had been completed. However, the railway was not the first thing on his mind. Seeking to become a powerful force in the increasingly profitable banana industry, Keith began opening plantations in the surrounding countries of Nicaragua, Panama and Colombia (Colby 69).