Operation PBFortune

Operation PBFortune was a covert U.S. operation to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in 1952. The United Fruit Company had lobbied intensively for the overthrow because land reform initiated by ÁRbenz threatened its economic interests. The US also feared that the government was being influenced by communists. The plan involved providing weapons to the exiled Guatemalan military officer Carlos Castillo Armas, who was to lead an invasion from Nicaragua. US Secretary of State Dean Acheson became concerned that the coup attempt would damage the image of the US, which had committed to a policy of non-intervention, and so terminated the operation.

About Operation PBFortune in brief

Operation PBFortune, also known as Operation Fortune, was a covert U.S. operation to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in 1952. The United Fruit Company had lobbied intensively for the overthrow because land reform initiated by ÁRbenz threatened its economic interests. The US also feared that the government was being influenced by communists. The plan involved providing weapons to the exiled Guatemalan military officer Carlos Castillo Armas, who was to lead an invasion from Nicaragua. US Secretary of State Dean Acheson became concerned that the coup attempt would damage the image of the US, which had committed to a policy of non-intervention, and so terminated the operation. The operation was followed two years later by Operation PBSuccess, another covert operation in which Castillos Armas played a prominent role, and ended the Guatemalan Revolution. The attitude of the United States was also influenced by the Monroe Doctrine, a philosophy of foreign policy articulated by James Monroe in 1823, which justified the maintenance of US hegemony in the region. Historian Mark Gilderhus opines that the doctrine also contained racially condescending language which likened Latin American countries to fighting children, and likened the US government to the British Royal Family. In the 1950s, the US had not needed to engage in military interventions in Guatemala to enforce this hegemony, given the military rulers friendly to the US were friendly to Guatemala.

In May 1952, Á rbenz enacted Decree 900, the official title of the Guatemala agrarian reform law. Under it, the uncultivated portions of large land-holdings were expropriated in return for compensation and redistributed to poverty-stricken agricultural laborers. Some governments in Central America and the Caribbean were hostile to Á Rbenz and the Guatemalo Revolution. Anastasio Somoza García, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the right-wing dictators of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, respectively, felt threatened by Arévalo’s reforms. In June 1944, a popular pro-democracy movement led by university students and labor organizations forced Ubico to resign. Ubico handed over power to a military junta that was toppled in a military coup led by JacoboÁr Benz in October 1944, an event known as the October Revolution. Before 1944, Guatemala had become a haven for pro- democracy activists from those three countries. The coup leaders called for open elections, which were won by Juan José AréVALo, a progressive professor of philosophy who had become the face of the popular movement. He implemented a moderate program of social reform, including a successful literacy campaign and largely free elections, although illiterate women were not given the vote, and communist parties were banned. This conception had been strengthened by the Caribbean Legion, and by the 50s the US Government was considering overthrowing Álbenz.

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