What railway did the United Fruit Company build in Guatemala?

The railway United Fruit Company built and controlled in Guatemala was the International Railways of Central America (IRCA).

IRCA emerged from a network of Guatemalan and Salvadoran rail lines associated with Minor C. Keith, a railroad entrepreneur and United Fruit ally. The company was incorporated in New Jersey in 1904, while the separate railway properties continued operating independently for several years. In 1912, major Guatemalan lines were consolidated under the IRCA name.

The system connected Guatemala City with Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean coast and linked plantation districts, ports, and inland markets. That infrastructure was crucial to United Fruit’s vertically integrated business: railways moved bananas to port, while the company also controlled plantations, shipping, and related communications. The railroad was not built entirely from scratch by United Fruit itself; much of the network predated its formal control, making IRCA the best quiz answer but a simplified description.

A common mix-up is Ferrocarriles de Guatemala, or FEGUA. That was the state successor created after the Guatemalan government took over the financially troubled IRCA in 1968.