US aid made Honduras its closest ally yet poorest exception

Evidence

The basic pattern established in Zemurray’s time continued after World War II. U.S. aid largely succeeded in increasing the economy’s reliance on a few export products, while Citibank, Chase Manhattan, and Bank of America took over the financial system. Honduras became “the closest ally to the United States,” writes LaFeber, “while remaining the poorest and most underdeveloped state in the hemisphere other than Haiti.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 280

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the addiction/extraction theme in Parable of the Sower-like dependency by a powerful neighbor.