them to the point
that local shippers had to ask Cuyamel's permission to use the port. In 1918,
Cuyamel constructed a railroad spur into Puerto Cortés, and in 1920 he obtained
effective control over the National Railroad, and from this and a network of
clandestine railroads the company effectively controlled all transport to the
port. When Zemurray sold Cuyamel Fruit to United Fruit in 1929, the giant
company had great influence in Puerto Cortés and in Honduras as a whole
