Abstract The overthrow of Jacob Arbenz of Guatemala was unquestionably a major event in the history of Central America. The event took place in the middle of the Cold War with the Russians battling the United States for the supremacy of the Third World. The following paper will attempt to show that there were several villains involved in the overthrow of Arbenz and these villains were more subtle than the United Fruit Company which posed the biggest threat to Arbenz's regime.
Abstract The following paper discusses the three major effects that land reform had on Guatemalan social culture. Questions such as: What groups, exactly, benefited from the reforms? What groups opposed them? What do the resulting conflicts over land reform reveal about the already existing character of Guatemalan society, and how that society partly transformed itself during the era before the "Liberation" by U.S. backed forces.\
From the paper:
"First, by redistributing land to, and encouraging greater political participation by, sectors of the Guatemalan population that had been harshly controlled and repressed for centuries, it awakened hope. Second, it brought to the fore many already simmering conflicts between different ethnic groups, classes and institutions in the countryside. Third, it invited a fanatical anti-Communist reaction by the landowners and the military that continues to shape Guatemala to the present day."
Tags: social, reform, revolution, classes, latin, american, south, america
Abstract This paper reviews the book, "Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944-1954" written by author Piero Gleijeses. The paper explores the insightful and often painful journey into a world of betrayal, greed, death and ultimately, tragedy. The paper portrays the book as a sad saga of what might have been and states how even the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) can make grave mistakes and miscalculate the outcome of overthrowing a foreign government. The paper contends that Gleijeses presents readers with a thoroughly researched and meticulous look at the sinister forces that actively participated in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, as well as the impact the invasion had on Guatemalan politics and society.
Outline
Introduction
The Coup
Players in the Coup
United Fruit Company
Carlos Castillo Armas
The American Press
The Historical Legacy of the Coup
From the Paper "United Fruit Company, with its platoon of influential lobbyists and talented publicists - including the CIA - was largely responsible for engineering the overthrow of Arbenz in 1954. Dwight Eisenhower was president and he led an administration laden with powerful businessmen and other prominent people. According to author Gleijeses, many of these people were friends of UFC. On page 361, Gleijeses writes: "Foster Dulles had been senior partner in the law firm that had represented UFC. His deputy, Walter Bedell Smith, was toying with the idea of taking a job with UFC (which he indeed did when he retired in 1955)." "The assistant secretary for Latin America was a Cabot, as was the ambassador to the United Nations - and Cabots were major UFC stockholders. Eisenhower's personal secretary, Ann Whitman, was the wife of UFC's director of public relations.""
This paper reviews the books "Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala" by S. Schlesinger and S. Kinzer and "Modern Latin America" by T. E. Skidmore and P. H. Smith.
Abstract The paper examines "Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala" by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer and "Modern Latin America" by Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith as they relate to the Guatemalan coup of 1954. The paper explores the role of the United Fruit Company (UFC) in the coup that overturned the legitimate Arbenz government of Guatemala in 1954, the CIA role in this affair and the UFC's relationship with the U.S. State Department and with the Guatemalan workers.
From the Paper "How many Americans know that the United States Government directly and dramatically interfered with the internal affairs of a sovereign nation (Guatemala) in 1954? And it wasn't a matter of small-time inference, but in fact the American CIA installed a dictator friendly to the U.S., and ousted the existing Arbenz administration. Probably few Americans also realize that this action in Guatemala was not a unique moment in U.S. interference in foreign nation's internal affairs. Indeed, the CIA had orchestrated and carried out a coup in Iran on August 19, 1953. The CIA installed the Shah of Iran into power thanks to a plan called "Operation Ajax" authorized by President Dwight Eisenhower and directed by the same men who carried out the coup against the legitimate government of Guatemala - brothers John Foster Dulles (Secretary of State) and Allen Dulles (CIA Director). The Iranian coup was fully explained in a book called All the Shaw's Men by Stephen Kinzer, the same author who co-wrote Bitter Fruit."
Tags: CIA, foreign, policy, Dulles, Eisenhower, Shah, Iran, Arbenz, government
Examines development of politics & economics, focusing on 1954 overthrow of Arbenz Guzman, role of CIA & United Fruit Company, revolution, policy of containment.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 2 sources, 1996, $ 47.95
From the Paper "In the 1980s, Guatemala was an unhappy bit player on the stage of U.S. policy in Central America. While the Reagan Administration was actively engaged in support of the government of El Salvador, and actively fomenting opposition to the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, the public image of successive Guatemalan regimes was so bad that that the Reagan Administration was forced to distance itself from events there. Insurgency and counterinsurgency thus went on in Guatemala, only loosely linked to events elsewhere in Central America, and Guatemala made the news in the United States only sporadically, and usually in the immediate wake of reports of mass repression and widespread slaughter there.
Three decades earlier, however, Guatemala occupied center stage in the Cold War. The rise of a leftist government there..."
Abstract This paper looks into reasons behind the United States's interest in the Caribbean basin, concluding that it is mainly due to its strategic position and America's fear of it being used as a base for future attacks against the country. This paper covers U.S. foreign policy in the region over four periods: the Protectorate Era from 1898-1933; the Good Neighbor Policy from 1933-1953; the Cold War period from 1953-1990; and the post-Cold War era or the present time. It also looks at what changes have occurred in the Caribbean Basin in the last 20 years of relation and intervention by the U.S.
From the Paper "Policy changes towards the Caribbean from Carter to Reagan were dramatic. Carter was interested in promoting economic development in the region, but later shifted his focus on national security. On the other hand, Reagan utilized a more traditional approach in the opposite direction. Carter placed highest priority on multilateral approaches to security issues and respected the sovereignty of small nations. Reagan was, on the other hand, confrontational towards Grenada, so that in October 1983, he joined six Caribbean nations in invading that island in order to restore democracy to its government. He was sensitive to criticism towards his anti-Communist strategy, which led him to fashion the Caribbean Basic Initiative to promote democracy."
