Guatemalan Coup (1954)

The Guatemalan Coup of 1954 was a pivotal event where the United States orchestrated a covert operation to overthrow President Jacobo Árbenz. Elected in 1951, Árbenz implemented land reforms that aimed to redistribute land from large estates to poorer farmers, threatening the interests of the United Fruit Company, a major U.S. corporation. Fearing a spread of communism in Latin America, the CIA intervened, supporting a military coup led by Carlos Castillo Armas. The coup led to decades of political instability and violence in Guatemala, shaping U.S.-Latin American relations and reflecting Cold War tensions.