Editing Jacobo Árbenz (section)

===October revolution===
[[File:Juntagobierno1944.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Árbenz, Toriello and Arana|Árbenz, [[Jorge Toriello]] (center), and [[Francisco Arana]] (right) in 1944. The three men formed the [[Military junta|junta]] that ruled Guatemala from the October Revolution until the election of Arévalo.]]
In May 1944 a series of protests against Ubico broke out at the [[Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala|university]] in [[Guatemala City]]. Ubico responded by suspending the constitution on 22 June 1944.{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=36–37}}{{sfn|Forster|2001|p=84}}{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=24–25}} The protests, which by this point included many middle-class members and junior army officers in addition to students and workers, gained momentum, eventually forcing Ubico's resignation at the end of June.{{sfn|Forster|2001|p=86}}{{sfn|Streeter|2000|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=39–40}} Ubico appointed a three-person junta led by General [[Federico Ponce Vaides]] to succeed him. Although Ponce Vaides initially promised to hold free elections, when the congress met on 3 July soldiers held everyone at gunpoint and forced them to appoint Ponce Vaides interim president.{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=39–40}} The repressive policies of the Ubico administration were continued.{{sfn|Streeter|2000|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=39–40}} Opposition groups began organizing again, this time joined by many prominent political and military leaders, who deemed the Ponce regime unconstitutional. Árbenz had been one of the few officers in the military to protest the actions of Ponce Vaides.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|p=140}} Ubico had fired Árbenz from his teaching post at the ''Escuela Politécnica'', and since then Árbenz had been living in El{{nbsp}}Salvador, organizing a band of revolutionary exiles.{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=41–43}} Árbenz was one of the leaders of the plot within the army, along with Major [[Aldana Sandoval]]. Árbenz insisted that civilians also be included in the coup, over the protests of the other military men involved. Sandoval later said that all contact with the civilians during the coup was through Árbenz.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|p=140}}

On 19 October 1944, a small group of soldiers and students led by Árbenz and [[Francisco Javier Arana]] attacked the [[National Palace (Guatemala)|National Palace]] in what later became known as the "October Revolution".{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=41–43}} Arana had not initially been a party to the coup, but his position of authority within the army meant that he was key to its success.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=48–51}} They were joined the next day by other factions of the army and the civilian population. Initially, the battle went against the revolutionaries, but after an appeal for support their ranks were swelled by unionists and students, and they eventually subdued the police and army factions loyal to Ponce Vaides. On 20 October, the next day, Ponce Vaides surrendered unconditionally.{{sfn|Forster|2001|pp=89–91}} Árbenz and Arana both fought with distinction during the revolt,{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=48–51}} and despite the idealistic rhetoric of the revolution, both were also offered material rewards: Árbenz was promoted from captain to lieutenant colonel, and Arana from major to full colonel.{{sfn|Loveman|Davies|1997|pp=126–127}} The junta promised free and open elections to the presidency and the congress, as well as for a [[constituent assembly]].{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=28–29}} The resignation of Ponce Vaides and the creation of the junta has been considered by scholars to be the beginning of the Guatemalan Revolution.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=28–29}} However, the revolutionary junta did not immediately threaten the interests of the landed elite. Two days after Ponce Vaides' resignation, a violent protest erupted at [[Patzicía]], a small Indian hamlet. The junta responded with swift brutality, silencing the protest. The dead civilians included women and children.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=30–31}}

Elections subsequently took place in December 1944. Although only literate men were allowed to vote, the elections were broadly considered free and fair.{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=45–45}}{{sfn|Streeter|2000|p=14}}{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|p=36}} Unlike in similar historical situations, none of the junta members stood for election.{{sfn|Immerman|1982|pp=45–45}} The winner of the 1944 elections was a teacher named [[Juan José Arévalo]], who ran under a coalition of leftist parties known as the "[[Revolutionary Action Party|Partido Acción Revolucionaria]]'" ("Revolutionary Action Party", PAR), and won 85% of the vote.{{sfn|Streeter|2000|p=14}} Arana did not wish to turn over power to a civilian administration.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=48–51}} He initially tried to persuade Árbenz and Toriello to postpone the election, and after Arévalo was elected, he asked them to declare the results invalid.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=48–51}} Árbenz and Toriello insisted that Arévalo be allowed to take power, which Arana reluctantly agreed to, on the condition that Arana's position as the commander of the military be unchallenged. Arévalo had no choice but to agree to this, and so the new Guatemalan constitution, adopted in 1945, created a new position of "Commander of the Armed Forces", a position that was more powerful than that of the defense minister. He could only be removed by Congress, and even then only if he was found to have broken the law.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=48–54}} When Arévalo was inaugurated as president, Arana stepped into this new position, and Árbenz was sworn in as defense minister.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1992|pp=48–51}}