Glenda Torres

Toni Trostle

Robin Welker

Professor Madden

English 450

11 December 2007

Guatemala’s Dark Cloud

            The country of Guatemala holds the status of being the most populated country in Latin America, giving it a large labor force.  Guatemala is known for being “A country in which everything grows” (“A ‘killing field’” 1).  With a large labor force and strong agriculture, this country was perfect for a strong agricultural export and prosperous national economy.  With this promising aspect for Guatemala, there looms a dark cloud of greed and manipulation over the country.  Guatemala has endured over three decades of civil war.  Some of the major causes of that civil war have been; US intervention, Military repression, and the United States’ fear of Communism.

            First and foremost, one of the most prevalent causes of civil war in Guatemala was the United States intervention in that country.  President Arbenz implemented the Agrarian Land Reform Law to create individually owned small farms, and thus breaking up the larger pre-existing plantations.   “The land reform program involved redistribution of 160,000 acres of uncultivated land owned by United Fruit Company” (A “killing field” 2).   The plantation owners lobbied that property ownership should be limited and subject to the majority of the Guatemalan interest.  “President Arbenz remarked that the Agrarian Land Reform had caused an ‘earthquake in the consciousness’ of Guatemalans” (Handy 112).  The leadership of the United Fruit Company was not happy either.  They had invested in the infrastructure of the entire country creating a railroad system as well as installing a telephone/telegraph system.  They felt an unreasonable government had stolen land, resources, and essentially money from them.  They appealed to the US Government to protect US business interest in Guatemala.  “Plantation owners (an oligarchy) and the United States wanted to keep control of the profits and land” (Perez 1).  President Eisenhower and CIA Director Allen Dulles sent in aid and equipment to the Guatemalan Army.  “The US also sent in CIA army and CIA planes” (“A ‘killing field’” 3).  “In order to ensure ever-increasing profits for an American corporation, the US State Department, the CIA, and United Fruit Company had succeeded in taking freedom and land from Guatemala’s peasants, unions from its workers, and hope for a democratic Guatemala from all of its people” (A “killing field” 3).  By getting rid of Arbenz they restored the stranglehold that the United Fruit Company and the Americans had on Guatemala. 

            Another leading cause of the civil war in Guatemala was military repression.  The Guatemalan Army was trained by the US CIA.  The United States supplied the Guatemalan Army with, CIA planes as well as other military equipment.  As a result, the Guatemalan Army was one of the strongest, most advanced army in Latin America.  With the Guatemalan Army being furnished with weapons of war, “They bombed a military base and a government radio station, and overthrew Arbenz Guzman, who fled to Cuba” (“A ‘killing field’” 2).  This coup created an era of repression through military leaders who were merciless toward the people of Guatemala.  The CIA trained and funded an army that terrorized its own people for decades.  Death Squads murdered peasants, labor leaders, and rebels indiscriminately; they targeted anyone who opposed the government.  The army controlled the people of Guatemala by forcing them to live in fear.  The Guatemalans submitted to the demands of the army, or were murdered.  “During more than 30 years of civil war, over 150,000 Guatemalans have been killed or disappeared, tens-of-thousands have been forced to flee to Mexico, one million have been displaced inside the country and more than 440 Indian villages have been destroyed.  And, for more than four decades, the United States government had consistently supported the Guatemalan Army and the ruling class in their policies of repression” (“A ‘killing field’”1).   With the uprisings, guerrilla attacks, military intervention, and the United States Foreign intervention it is a wonder that their is even a country left anymore.

Finally, the third cause of the civil war was the United States fear of communism.   The US feared that Guatemala would be influenced by international communism as well as across Central America.   “Secretary of State John Foster Dulles claimed that Guatemala was living under a "communism type of terrorism" and President Eisenhower portrayed the government in Guatemala as a "communist dictatorship.’” (“President Dwight Eisenhower and Guatemala” 1).  Eisenhower’s administration knew that although Guatemalan President Arbenz was not a communist, he imported weapons from the communist country of Czechoslovakia.   The communist labor party only held 4 seats out of 52 in the Guatemalan administration.  The US informed the American people about the threat of communism by using a propaganda based campaign to warn them.  The propaganda campaign focused on convincing the American public that Guatemala’s society was mentoring communism.  The real reason for the US government’s anti-communism campaign was to protect the best interest of the United Fruit Company, plantation owners, and other American capitalists.  The US government felt that injustice was being done to the US by President Arbenz’s socialistic policy of land reform.  “Washington's first reaction to events in Guatemala was that the government was discriminating against American companies and, therefore, threatening relations between the two countries” (“President Dwight Eisenhower and Guatemala” 1).  Considering these facts, the reality that Guatemala was a communist society might have been over exaggerated by the US government.

            Therefore, during the 36 year civil war in Guatemala, with the United States not supporting Arbenz’s land reform, they decided to intervene and overthrow Arbenz’s presidency.  As a result the United States, the United Fruit Company, as well as the plantation owners, restored their control over the Guatemalan people.  In addition, the powerful Guatemalan Army terrorized and murdered hundreds of thousands of their own people with the help of the CIA.   “Guatemala continues to suffer the worst record of human rights abuses in Latin America” (“A ‘killing field’” 3).  The US propaganda campaign was successful in convincing the Americans that Guatemala was communist.  Between the US intervention, Military repression and the United States fear of Communism this country has had more than its share of abuse.