Guatemala/1954 coup d'état
 | |
| Date | 18 June 1954 - 27 June 1954 |
|---|---|
| Location | Guatemala |
| Perpetrators | CIA, United Fruit |
| Interest of | Jacob Esterline, Raymond Leddy, Hans Tofte |
| Description | A coup organised by the CIA to protect the profit of United Fruit. |
The 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état was the result of "Operation Success", a CIA organised coup d'état in Guatemala that removed the democratically elected leader, Jacobo Árbenz. It was commissioned by United Fruit, in an effort to preserve their huge land holdings in the country.
Origins
United Fruit had large land holdings and profited from brutal labour practices, both of which were imperiled by the social reforms carried out by the Jacobo Árbenz. After the coup d'état in Iran in 1953, the CIA were employed to create a coup in the country. "Operation PBSUCCESS" was launched.
Documents
On May 23, 1997 the CIA, after years of answering Freedom of Information Act requests with its standard "we can neither confirm nor deny that such records exist," the CIA declassified some 1400 pages of over 100,000 estimated to be in its secret archives on the Guatemalan destabilization program.[1]
