Guatemalan Independence
In the early 1800s, Guatemala saw rapid political changes.  On September 15, 1821, Guatemala held a council meeting in the capital and officially declared independence from Spain.  Guatemala joined the Mexican Empire in 1822, but civil war caused a governmental collapse of the empire.  Subsequently a Central American convention was held, thus freeing Central America from Mexico and forming the federation of The United Provinces of Central America which included Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua (16). 

After federal soldiers for Central America killed some of his relatives, José Rafael Carrera Turcios led a revolt against Central American president Francisco Morazán, and by 1851, with Guatemala free from the federation, Carrera became the first president of Guatemala (17).  Backed by conservatives, large land owners and the church, Carrera ruled Guatemala until his death in 1865 (17).

Reform in Guatemala (1865-1944)
President Vicente Cerna Sandoval replaced Carrera ruling from 1865 until 1871 when Miguel Garcia Granados Zavala and Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón’s liberal revolution overthrew Cerna and the conservatives in power.  Granados was in power for only two years (1871-1873) when Barrios was officially elected president in 1873 and ruled until 1885. 

He was known as “the Reformer” as he appointed departmental governors, guaranteed free practice of religion, implemented free, compulsory education, offered free or moderately priced land for coffee production and designed various other programs to modernize Guatemala (18).

Barrios also managed international relationships in Central America and helped overthrow hostile governments in neighboring countries.  However, in attempt to realize his dream of a restored Central American union, Barrios died on the battle field in war against El Salvador in 1885 (18).

International relations were continued by later presidents in the early 1900s beginning with President Manuel José Estrada Cabrera as he developed relationships with the United Fruit Company (UFC) – a United States-owned company.  Gaining access to railroads, fertile land, electric utilities and ports, the UFC became a stronghold in Guatemala under the presidency of General Jorge Ubico Castañeda in the 1930s, ultimately resulting in the Guatemalan government frequently catering to the interest of the multi-billion dollar company (2).  The prominence of the UFC in Guatemala would also later impact U.S. involvement in the Guatemalan civil war.

Ubico served as dictator of Guatemala until July 1944 when he was overthrown by the “October Revolutionaries.”  Following the overthrow of unpopular dictators in Venezuela, Cuba and El Salvador, students, liberal professionals and rebellious military officers organized as the “October Revolutionaries,” seeking political reform and social justice against Ubico’s secret police and vagrancy law (10). 

Their efforts led to a paralyzing strike for Guatemala, forcing Ubico to relinquish his power.  Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, who would later be president, and Francisco Javier Arana, both military officers, led the final coup to overthrow Ubico’s replacement Juan Federico Ponce Vaides in October 1944 (2).

The “Ten Years of Spring” (1945-1955)
The overthrow of Ubico began what is known as the “Ten Years of Spring.”  Beginning with the first democratic election of civilian writer and teacher Juan José Arévalo Bermejo as the Guatemalan president in 1945, this became a time of free speech, new political parties and social and land reforms (2).  Arévalo was responsible for initiating voter registration drives, national literacy programs and farming cooperatives as well (10).

In 1951, the highly popular Arbenz was elected by a landslide and continued the progressive social change initiated during Arévalo’s presidency (2).  During Arbenz’s term in office, the government issued Decree 900, authorizing the redistribution of large tracts of land – primarily land of large plantations and the United Fruit Company. 

In most cases, unused land was re-distributed; although in some instances, the Guatemalan government purchased the land at the value listed on the tax forms and resold it to peasants at a lower rate (8). 

The government’s new socio-economic programs spurred the growth of other programs around the country.  Communities began their own health and education programs, and churches became involved in land cooperatives (8).  This and other changes of a socialist nature led to cries of communism to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (7).  At the same time, the beginning of the Cold War between the U.S. and the USSR created a prominent anticommunist sentiment and had a vast impact on U.S. involvement in Guatemalan affairs.  

The CIA made its first attempt at overthrowing Arbenz under the PBFORTUNE initiative in 1952 with authorization from U.S. President Harry Truman.  Not long after, memos came from CIA Headquarters with titles reading, “Guatemalan Communist Personel to be Disposed of During Military Operations.”  These documents listed categories of people to be “neutralized” through murder or imprisonment and exile (19).  With support from landowners and old military personnel, the CIA enacted a second attempt at a coup under the codename PBSUCCESS, this time successfully overthrowing Arbenz and installing a number of temporary leaders until appointing Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas as the new president in 1954 (7). 

The U.S. spent $2.7 million on “psychological warfare and political action.”  Though Arbenz did eventually resign and flee the country, documents note that Operation PBSUCCESS called for a “roll up of Communists and collaborators,” and said the option of assassination was still being considered up to the day of Arbenz’s resignation.  Even after Armas was installed as president, hundreds of Guatemalans were gathered and killed to eradicate the communist movement (19).

Works Cited