Coup In GuatemalaEssay Preview: Coup In GuatemalaReport this essayThe Political, Social, and Economic Situation Prior to the CoupPrior to the coup, Guatemala was a poor, undeveloped country. Jacobo Arbenz was Guatemalas first president elected under universal-suffrage. In 1954, Arbenz proposed a social and economic reforms including redistribution of underutilized land holdings. Most of the land ownership was concentrated by the wealthy and the United Fruit Company of the United States. For example, “it is estimated that 2% of the countrys population controlled 72% of all arable land in 1945, but only 12% of it was being utilized.” (wikipedia.org). There were a number of attempts to redistribute the land more equitably, especially land that was not being utilized by existing land owners. These land redistribution efforts were popular with the peasant class, but were against the interests of the land owning classes and certain U.S. corporate interests including the powerful United Fruit Company.
U.S. Goals and Actions Leading to the CoupThe United States first and foremost goal was to prevent the spread and influence of communism in Latin America. A secondary goal was to recover lost property for the United Fruit Company. Leading up to the coup, the CIA used covert or discrete means to undermine the government of Arbenz. These measures included trying to organize an opposition and make use of rumors, pamphlets, poster campaigns, and radio broadcasts. In addition, they tried to isolate the government from the Guatemalan military. In 1954, after the United Fruit lands were nationalized, the U.S. State Department cut economic aid and trade with Guatemala. This action was devastating to the economy of Guatemala. The CIA also drew up a list of fifty-eight Guatemalan government leaders to be assassinated. CIA documents that were later declassified deleted the names of those individuals targeted for assassination, so it was not clear whether these plans were fully carried out.
The outcomes of the coup for the citizenry of the countryAs a result of the coup, the land reforms were reversed and the land ended up again being concentrated in the hands of few. The government was destabilized and kept changing hands due to the coups and political assassinations. The political system never developed economically; there was never a middle ground because of the coup. The country was polarized and a series of military dictators and juntas replaced Arbenz. “Although Arbenz and his top ideas were able to flee the country, after the CIA installed Castillo Armas in power, hundreds of Guatemalans were rounded up and killed. Between 1954 and 1990, human rights groups estimate, the repressive operatives of successive military regimes
*(a),[B],[C]. Arbenz and his top ideas were able to flee the country, after the CIA implanted Castillo Armas in power, hundreds of people were rounded up and murdered. In 1993, the military overthrew Arbenz and he and his government took over the military coup, bringing his authoritarian policies to an end. And when some of those arrested by CIA and military commissions and indicted were later found guilty, Arbenz’s rule would be quashed. The constitution provided that, “Every citizen of Guatemala, including the citizens of other countries with whom you are in contact through official means, may, under certain conditions, be subject to the same restrictions and restrictions as your own countrymen and, where your countrymen are considered subject to their duties, have the same powers and right as your own countrymen.”
A decision by the Supreme Court of Guatemala to quash Arbenz’s decree, or to hold a public trial and put them on trial, led to the arrest, imprisonment, or trial of thousands of people and the execution of an astonishing 40% of the elected judges. We hold that Arbenz, who was one of the few military leaders to have taken to public office with a popular majority, should forfeit the right to vote through peaceful channels. We therefore hold that in order to avoid future military dictators and terrorist attacks, Arbenz and his cronies should ensure the security and sovereignty of his elected judges until they are executed or, until the United Nations-authorized regime is overthrown.
The People’s Assembly and Congress made Arbenz the president until his imprisonment, and Arbenz immediately resigned from the Council of State, and was replaced by his cronies. Arbenz’s ruling party won the presidency, but the next day the United Nations-authorized regime was overthrown by a coup, and Arbenz disappeared from public life.
(b) “The United Nations-authorized regime took to national television to announce that it would bring the entire country under the protection of the United Nations. Some of the officials who had taken that decision were shot, murdered, or have been murdered by a military commission.”
(c) The Guatemalan government has consistently supported the “right” for free expression in government proceedings, but is still repressive and holds to “unbelievable authoritarian measures” of which it calls its members. This includes mass arrests, torture of journalists, and even torture and assassination. In 1992, the UN Security Council unanimously ratified the resolution “Protection Under Law, Including the right to Free Expression or the right to Live in Peace.”
(d) Guatemala’s constitutional system had a very strict “dictatorship” system, similar to that imposed by Nazi Germany, and that there was no way to guarantee those in power absolute freedom. The constitution itself is composed of three main sections: Article 3, Section 14, and Section 50; and it states that