The United States government (in particular the Central Intelligence Agency) is often accused maintaining other countries as "banana republics", in Central America, for example, from where the term arose.
Traditionally, the controlling foreign power need not be a state; a corporation such as the United Fruit Company can play the role. The imposition of such an arrangement can be appreciated in a poem by Pablo Neruda, titled "La United Fruit Co." in Spanish.
The term has come to be used to describe a generally unstable or "backwards" dictatorial regime or a country where fraudulent elections are regularly held.
Banana Republic is also the name of a chain of clothing stores owned by The Gap.