Jacobo Árbenz

Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman (1913-1971) was president of Guatemala from 1951 to 1954. Upon assuming office, Arbenz Guzman attempted to take on the United Fruit Company (UFC), an American-based corporation which controlled much of the counry's agricultural land. As this occurred during the days of the Red Scare in the United States, Arbenz Guzman was deemed a communist--he was not, though many of his closest acquaintances and possibly his wife were. In order to protect its interest in the country, the UFC and its banking supporters convinced the CIA to sponsor a coup, toppling the government and forcing Arbenz Guzman to flee. He died in Mexico in 1971.x