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2006-04-02 - 3:09 p.m.

Guatemala in the early 1950's.

In 1950 Jacobo Arbenz Guzman was elected president of Guatemala

In 1952 the Arbenz government announced a land reform act involving 1,000 plantations. Approximately 100,000 poor received land through the act. The wealthy of Guatemala were furious.

In 1953 the Arbenz government announced its intention under an agrarian reform law to seize unused United Fruit Company land. Now rich U.S. citizens with ties to this extremely large company were furious.

The UFCO owned over half of the land in Guatemala at the time but used only around 15 percent of it. The company was also granted tax-free status under the previous Ubico dictatorship.

UFCO lobbysists worked in Washington ensuring Congress that Guatemala had become a "Beachead for Communists."

John Foster Dulles, Eisenhowers Secretary of State was executive parter of the lawfirm (Sullivan and Cromwell) that represented the UFCO.

An objective media campaign was launched. A few American ournalists were flown down on UFCO junkets.

Upon returning one dissenting journalist wrote, "There is a community of Communists in Guatemala but I've seen more in San Francisco. Her comments were published in one newspaper, the Laredo Star.

In 1954 a CIA organized coup overthrew Arbenz and his evil Communists in Operation PBSUCCESS.

Who happened to be one of those evil communists living in Guatemala at the time to witness this? That Argentinian physician Che Guevara.


 

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