Economic Hit Man Series

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins, 2004, Excerpts

In Guatemala, United Fruit Company had been that country’s political equivalent of Panama’s canal. Founded in the late 1800s, United Fruit soon grew into one of the most powerful forces in Central America. During the early 1950s, reform candidate Jacabo Arbenz was elected president of Guatemala in an election hailed all over the hemisphere as a model of the democratic process. At the time, less than 3 percent of Guatemalans owned 70 percent of the land. Arbenz promised to help the poor dig their way out of starvation, and after his election he implemented a comprehensive land reform program.

United Fruit owned big plantations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Santo Domingo, and in Panama. They couldn’t afford to let Arbenz give the rest ideas.

United Fruit launched a major public relations campaign in the United States, aimed at convincing the American public and congress that Arbenz was part of a Russian plot and that Guatemala was a Soviet satellite. In 1954, the CIA orchestrated a coup. American pilots bombed Guatemala City and the democratically elected Arbenz was overthrown, replaced by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, a ruthless right-wing dictator.

Wikipedia Carlos Castillo Armas

The United States was opposed to the nationalization efforts, the destabilizing effect of the Czech weaponry that arrived in Guatemala on May 15, 1954 and Arbenz's perceived communism. This led to CIA support for Castillo Armas (CIA codename: "Calligeris") and his army. In 1954, they invaded Guatemala, forcing Arbenz Guzmán to resign

On September 1, Carlos Castillo Armas was formally declared president, ushering in a decades-long period of dictatorial rule. Upon taking office, he disenfranchised more than half of Guatemala's voting population by removing the voting ability of illiterates. Armas had not only cancelled the law that facilitated the nation's land reform, Decree 900, forcing peasants to vacate their newly acquired lands, but, at the CIA's request, formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism, which is generally acknowledged to be Latin America's first modern death squad.