Somoza family
Politics and outbreaks of disease in the 20th century kept banana production low. During their time in power, the Somoza family, who had discovered that coffee and cattle were more profitable than bananas, refused to give United States banana companies the free rein that they enjoyed throughout the rest of Central America. In addition, an outbreak of Panama disease, a fungus that kills the plant's underground stem, wiped out most of the banana plantations in the early 20th century.