Editing History of Guatemala (section)

===== Operation PBSuccess =====
{{Main|Operation PBSuccess}}
The Communist Party was not the focal point of the communist movement in Guatemala until [[Jacobo Árbenz]] came to power in 1951. Prior to 1951, communism existed within urban labor forces in small study groups from 1944 to 1953, exerting considerable influence on these groups. Despite its limited size in Guatemala, many Communist leaders were highly vocal about their beliefs, particularly through protests and literature. In 1949, the Communist Party had fewer than forty members in Congress, but by 1953, this number had increased to nearly four thousand. Before Árbenz came to power, the communist movement largely operated through mass organizations. Following Árbenz's rise, the Guatemalan Communist Party expanded its activities into the public sphere.

Upon assuming power in 1951, Árbenz extended political freedoms, allowing communists in Guatemala to engage in politics. This policy enabled many opponents of Ubico's regime to identify as communists. By 1952, Árbenz implemented land reform, redistributing about {{convert|225,000|acre|ha|sigfig=2|order=flip}} of unused agricultural land from large landowners to rural workers and farmers. The land, primarily taken from the United Fruit Company, was to be compensated; however, the UFC argued that the compensation was insufficient. Meanwhile, Árbenz permitted the Communist Party to organize and include leaders, notably his leftist adviser. The propaganda campaign by the United Fruit Company against the Guatemalan revolution influenced the U.S. government to combat communism in Guatemala. The [[Eisenhower administration]] in the U.S. was displeased with Árbenz's government, viewing him as too aligned with communism. There were reports suggesting that Árbenz's wife was a communist and part of the Communist Party in Guatemala. Despite the lack of concrete evidence linking Guatemala to the Soviet Union, the U.S. was inclined to believe in the presence of communism in Guatemala.

As Árbenz proceeded with land reform, the [[United Fruit Company]], which had a near-monopoly on Guatemalan fruit production and some industry, lobbied the [[Eisenhower]] administration to remove him. More significantly, there was widespread American concern about the potential establishment of a so-called "[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] beachhead."<ref>{{cite book | author=Cullather, Nick | title=''Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 1952–1954'' | publisher=Stanford University Press | year=1999 | isbn=0-8047-3311-2}}, pg 17, quoting [[Allen Dulles]]</ref> Árbenz's sudden legalization of the Communist Party and the importation of arms from the Soviet-[[satellite state]] of [[Czechoslovakia]],<ref>[http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/Matt%20Ward/MW_Appendix_A.htm Master's with Honours Thesis<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211051553/http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/Matt%20Ward/MW_Appendix_A.htm |date=11 February 2009 }}</ref> among other actions, convinced major policy makers in the [[White House]] and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] to seek Árbenz's removal, despite his term being due to end naturally in two years. This led to a CIA-orchestrated coup in 1954, known as [[Operation PBSuccess]], which resulted in Árbenz being toppled and forced into exile by Colonel [[Carlos Castillo Armas]]. Although many Guatemalans were committed to the original ideals of the 1944 uprising, some private sector leaders and military figures came to view Árbenz as a communist threat and supported his overthrow, hoping that his successor would continue the more moderate reforms initiated by Arevalo.

Armed and trained by the CIA, groups of Guatemalan exiles, commanded by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, invaded Guatemala on 18 June 1954. The Americans portrayed this as an anti-communist coup against Árbenz. Supported by CIA radio broadcasts, the Guatemalan army did not resist the coup, leading to Árbenz's resignation. In 1954, a military government replaced Árbenz's administration, disbanded the legislature, and arrested communist leaders, with Castillo Armas assuming the presidency.

Following the CIA coup, hundreds of Guatemalans were rounded up and killed. Documents obtained by the [[National Security Archive]] revealed that the CIA was involved in planning the assassinations of enemies of the new military government, should the coup prove successful.{{sfn|Blakeley|2009|p=92}}