DOCSLIB.ORG

Intervening in Revolution: the US Exercise of Power in Guatemala, 1954

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Intervening in Revolution: the US Exercise of Power in Guatemala, 1954 Intervening in Revolution: The US Exercise of Power in Guatemala, 1954 by Jose Luis Valdes-Ugalde Department of International Relations The London School of Economics and Political Science Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of London April, 1999 1 UMI Number: U61543B All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615433 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 TW-£S£2> F 75 81 ABSTRACT This thesis attempts to develop an understanding of US policy in Latin America. This effort is carried out in light of the examination of the political and cultural roots that have shaped the character of the United States as a nation and thus US strength in world affairs. These characteristics have been reflected in the geopolitical approach adopted when the US has drawn up (and constructed) its foreign policy priorities. This is particularly the case when a response to revolution and socio-political change is required to guarantee US national security. Hence the importance of exploring both the need to impose US power in the region and the rationale for it. The thesis analyses US foreign policy towards Latin America in the context of the Guatemalan revolution of 1944-1954. It does so from the point of view of the revolution itself and the events of the early Cold War years. These are important years since it was at this time that President Eisenhower and Secretary of State, J.F. Dulles, under the rationale of the defence of US interests, developed a militant anticommunism. The result of this policy was the US-supported intervention in Guatemala which became the first of the US’s cold war laboratories in Latin America. This intervention crystallised in 1954 in US support for a coup against President Jacobo Arbenz, which dissolved the democratic order in Guatemala. The subject is approached by taking the following into consideration: a) the immediate background of the domestic political culture - which is most clearly reflected in insularity - as an important element in understanding the US stand on revolution and foreign policy, that is the domestic dimension, b) the geopolitical axioms about supremacy that were behind the US formal position of a defense of national security, which brought about the need to carry out a construction of a continental reality meant to match strategic principles, c) an interpretation of socio-political change in Central America as the key to an understanding of the roots of US interventionist ardour and, d) the problematic association between socio-political change, intervention and authoritarianism, as well as the implications that such an association, especially in the context of US-Latin American relations, has had for democracy in general. 2 To my parents Maria Luisa and Francisco and their grandchildren, Natalia, Carlos Patricio, Diego Antonio and Maria Fernanda, old and new generation of Americans in Mexican land, with love and gratitude. To the Kosovan victims of the atrocities of the state. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to give my thanks to the following institutions for their financial support which made possible the accomplishment of this thesis: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT), Centro de Investigation y Docencia Economicas (CIDE), The British Council, the Department of International Relations of The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and that magnificent institution that is the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), my work place. I am also grateful to Kate Doyle and Peter Kombluh at the National Security Archives in Washington DC whose kind assistance was extremely important in my archival research. My recognition goes also to the late Professor John Vincent whose encouragement as Convenor of the IR Department at the LSE was an important incentive. I wish to express my very special thanks to Prof. Christopher Hill, my supervisor, whose trust and support have been vital during the writing of this thesis. Chris is one of those rare people that combines intellectual scholarship with the human qualities of kindness, generosity and depth of soul. The energy and motivation of this extraordinary academic companion provided an ideal environment in which to carry out the intellectually trying and emotionally difficult task of writing a doctoral thesis. For all these reasons I will always be grateful to him. I would also like to express my gratitude to the following persons: Phil Bevis, Rib Davis, Pilar Domingo, Michael Drolet, Malory Greene, John Kraniauskas, Allan Neil, Ian Roxborough and Hazel Smith, who read all or parts of this thesis. I wish to thank their kindness in critically reviewing my work, and amending my (tropical) use of the English language. Without their skilful and valuable support this thesis would not have been what it is today. It goes without saying that the mistakes which remain are of course my own. The emotional and practical support of my brother Francisco, and sisters Luisa Fernanda and Marisa was crucial during my stay in London. My brother Federico, and sisters Cecilia, Claudia and Margui, each one of them in their own loving way and sometimes without noticing, were of enormous support. My parents were always present whenever I needed them and I am deeply grateful for that. A special thanks also to my nieces Natalia and Maria Fernanda, and nephews Carlos Patricio and Diego Antonio, whose refreshing happiness was always a joyful travelling companion during my long months in London. It is to these two generations of Americans, the old and the new, that this work is dedicated with my love and gratitude. I am grateful to those friends and colleagues that have supported and encouraged me during this endeavour. It is impossible to list them all, but I am sure they will recognise that these thoughts and words are dedicated to them. 4 A PERSONAL NOTE One personal note that stems from the experience of being, like Auden, a citizen and pilgrim, experiencing simultaneously the condition of the temporary visitor and the native returning to the fatherland. My travel experience has provided a constant parable for my thinking about Guatemala. Todos los Santos is a small town in the mountains. When I went there for the first and last time, I did so as a lonely Latin American traveller; for I did not find, during my marching and searching in that part of the country a single Latin American compatriot in that adventure - as was the case with European and North American travellers. This was my first important impression. After having spent some time in the community of Todos los Santos I learned from the press, once back in Guatemala City, that the same town and region where I had so much enjoyed myself, had been raided by a military command unit, and all its inhabitants, including women and children, were practically placed under martial law under the charge of Communist-guerrilla conspiracy. This happened in 1979. The final destiny of that town and its people I don’t know. What I cannot refrain from thinking is - and this is perhaps one of the mysterious reasons behind my permanent interest on my country’s neighbour - that the times of my travels happened to be also the times of the second period of the long-lasting authoritarian terror that had started precisely in that June of 1954 when Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown by the US-sponsored coup. If one notes the particular details of the Guatemalan ethnocide of the last four decades, one cannot but realise, and not without terror, that this was taking place while my travels (my pilgrimage) was actually in process. Death was also a component of the daily reckoning of this traveller, and of this I was involuntarily a (blind) witness, which proves, among other things, that sometimes State terrorism can also take place in silence. Hence, silence as an accomplice of terror: from being the natural and wise host of memory while in the act of waiting, silence is kidnapped by men in the name of “reasons of state” and turned into an ignominious and a desolated orphan territory. National orphanity marks, thus, the limits of historic reason. For this reason, if only for this, perhaps George Santayana must be right when he told us that, “those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it,” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez did not make a mistake when referring, in his acceptance of the Nobel Prize, to this situation, among many others in the Latin American life, as the “measure of our solitude.” 5 A NOTE ON FOOTNOTES AND QUOTATIONS The Harvard system for footnotes is used throughout this work as well as in the bibliography. Archival material, official publications, and newspapers, are quoted in full and when the reference is reproduced, I use the usual “op. cit.” & “ibid.,” system. The Harvard system is used when a particular author in a newspaper article is referred to. Quotations from US authors are reproduced in US original English. All texts in Spanish are my translation, including
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fundamentos De La Ley 14784
    Fundamentos de la Ley 14784 Abelardo Castillo nació en Buenos Aires, en 1.935, y enseguida su familia se trasladó a la localidad de San Pedro, en la provincia de Buenos Aires. Será por eso que desde siempre eligió identificarse como “sampedrino” y es en esa ciudad donde reside en la actualidad. Castillo es uno de los escritores nacionales más importantes, abordando a lo largo de su carrera todos los géneros: poesía, ensayo, cuento, novela y este año publicó sus memorias en forma de diarios. Comenzó a escribir a los 12 años, se formó bajo la influencia de Jean-Paul Sartre y de Albert Camus. Su obra literaria responde a intereses variados y a su propia vida. Desde muy chico, leía con voracidad y alcanzó un reconocimiento considerable cuando aún no había cumplido los 30 años. Junto a otros prestigiosos escritores fundó la revista de literatura El Grillo de Papel, de la que llegaron a aparecer seis números, ya que el gobierno de Arturo Frondizi prohibió la publicación por su adscripción al pensamiento de izquierda y, singularmente, a la lectura del marxismo desarrollada por Jean-Paul Sartre. En 1961 fundó y dirigió, conjuntamente con Liliana Heker, El Escarabajo de Oro. Esta revista -editada hasta el año 1.974- apuntó a una fuerte proyección latinoamericana y fue considerada una de las más representativas de la generación del 60. Formaron parte de su Consejo de Colaboradores: Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Augusto Roa Bastos, Juan Goytisolo, Félix Grande, Ernesto Sábato, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Beatriz Guido, Dalmiro Sáenz, entre otros. Allí publicaron por primera vez sus textos Liliana Heker, Ricardo Piglia, Humberto Constantini, Miguel Briante, Jorge Asís, Alejandra Pizarnik y Haroldo Conti.
    [Show full text]
  • OD 1413 DFM.Pmd
    CAMARA DE DIPUTADOS DE LA NACION O.D. Nº 1.413 1 SESIONES DE PRORROGA 2008 ORDEN DEL DIA Nº 1413 COMISION DE CULTURA Impreso el día 9 de diciembre de 2008 Término del artículo 113: 18 de diciembre de 2008 SUMARIO: Revista “PROA en las Letras y en las INFORME Artes”, de ALLONI/PROA Editores. Declaración de interés de la Honorable Cámara. Genem. (5.835- Honorable Cámara: D.-2008.) La Comisión de Cultura ha considerado el pro- yecto de declaración de la señora diputada Genem, Dictamen de comisión por el que se declara de interés de la Honorable Cá- mara la revista “PROA en las Letras y en las Artes” Honorable Cámara: de ALLONI/PROA Editores. Las señoras y señores diputados, al iniciar el estudio de esta iniciativa, han La Comisión de Cultura ha considerado el pro- tenido en cuenta que por su vasta trayectoria la re- yecto de declaración de la señora diputada Genem, vista “PROA en las Letras y en las Artes” es consi- por el que se declara de interés de la Honorable Cá- derada decana de los medios literarios de América. mara la revista “PROA en las Letras y en las Ar- Su fundación data de 1922 por iniciativa de Jorge tes”, de ALLONI/PROA Editores; y, por las razones Luis Borges, Macedonio Fernández y Ricardo expuestas en el informe que se acompaña y las que Güiraldes; y, desde 1988, recorre su tercera etapa dará el miembro informante, aconseja la aprobación con una frecuencia bimestral, una tirada de 15.000 del siguiente ejemplares y manteniendo el formato de libro, que le conserva sus características literarias y estéticas.
    [Show full text]
  • Sabato/Borges: Sobre El Cielo Y El Infierno
    SABATO/BORGES: SOBRE EL CIELO Y EL INFIERNO POR LELIA M. MADRID University of Western Ontario 4Elaborar otra versi6n sobre el cielo y el infierno? Borges -y Adolfo Bioy Casares-- responden con una antologia, el Libro del cielo y el infierno'. El prologo es de 1959. En 1966, Ernesto Sabato proponia su propia "historia" del cielo y del infierno2. "Sobre la existencia del infierno" es una pieza personal; asi, en efecto, lo declara su autor: (L)a teorfia ... (s)e me ha ocurrido como consecuencia de algunas experiencias personales y, seguramente, bajo la presi6n de fuertes obsesiones inconscientes (217). Mas adelante, aiiade otro comentario de un tenor parecido: No mencionar6 aquf mis experiencias personales que, por serlo, son para mi de enorme e impresionante importancia, pero que para los otros carecen de valor probatorio; debo decir, sin embargo, que son estas experiencias personales, asi como el sonambulismo que me aquej6 de nifio, los que me han empujado hacia el estudio de la parapsicologfa (217). 1 Se hace referencia a la edici6n de Jorge L. Borges y Adolfo Bioy Casares, Libro del cielo y del infierno (Buenos Aires: Sur, 1975). 2 "Sobre la existencia del infierno", fue primeramente publicado en la revista Janus, 6 (Buenos Aires,julio-set. 1966): 91-94 y reimpresa posteriormente en diversos volimenes de ensayos: La robotizacidn del hombre y otros ensayos (Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de Am6rica Latina, 1981): 25-31; tambi6n enPdginas de Ernesto Sdbato (Buenos Aires: Celtia, 1983): 217-222; asimismo, v6ase la p. 305 de la novela Abadd6n el exterminador (Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1978).
    [Show full text]
  • ERNESTO SÁBATO (1911-2011) Pablo Ruiz Tufts University Ernesto
    REVISTA DE CRÍTICA LITERARIA LATINOAMERICANA Año XXXVII, No 73. Lima-Boston, 1er semestre de 2011, pp. 467-470 ERNESTO SÁBATO (1911-2011) Pablo Ruiz Tufts University Ernesto Sábato, escritor argentino, ha muerto en su casa de San- tos Lugares, en la provincia de Buenos Aires, el 30 de abril de este año. Autor de tres novelas y varios libros de ensayos, recibió los máximos honores de las letras en lengua española, incluido el Pre- mio Cervantes, y múltiples reconocimientos internacionales por su actividad literaria y política. Había nacido casi cien años antes, el 24 de junio de 1911, en el pequeño pueblo de Rojas, a más de doscientos kilómetros de la ciu- dad de Buenos Aires. Sus padres eran inmigrantes italianos llegados de Calabria a fines del siglo XIX. Fue el décimo de once hijos varo- nes y fue bautizado Ernesto en homenaje al noveno, muerto poco antes de que él naciera. Producto de la educación pública argentina, fue a la escuela primaria en Rojas y al secundario en la ciudad de La Plata, donde fue alumno de Pedro Henríquez Ureña, el gran intelec- tual dominicano, y de Ezequiel Martínez Estrada. En 1929 ingresó a la Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas de la Universidad de La Plata, aunque su gran vocación temprana fue la política. En 1930 dictó un curso informal sobre el marxismo, una de cuyas alumnas, Matilde Kusminsky-Richter, sería su futura esposa. En 1933 aban- donó los estudios para dedicarse por completo a la militancia. Fue miembro activo del Partido Comunista y hasta llevó una breve vida clandestina en la localidad de Avellaneda, pero pronto el desencanto con el estalinismo lo llevó a abandonar el comunismo y a retomar sus estudios de física.
    [Show full text]
  • Transitional Justice and the Legacy of Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church
    CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND THE LEGACY OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Elizabeth B. Ludwin King* I. INTRODUCTION In 1998, John Geoghan, a Massachusetts priest, was defrocked— stripped of any rights to perform as an ordained priest—for molesting children.1 Four years later, the Archbishop of Boston, Bernard Law, arguably one of the most influential people in the state, resigned from his position upon revelations that he knew of Geoghan’s actions and yet chose to send him to other parishes where he would still be in an environment with minors.2 In other parishes around and outside the United States, similar scenarios were, and had been, occurring for years: priests using their positions in order to engage in sexual acts with minors.3 When survivors began to speak up, they and their families were often offered “hush money” in order to prevent a scandal.4 Although the sexual abuse crisis came to the forefront in 2002 due to the investigative journalist team at the Boston Globe, reports of the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy had been * Adjunct Professor, University of Denver Sturm School of Law. Many thanks to Kate Devlin for her research assistance. 1 See CNN, Priest in Sex Abuse Scandal Killed in Prison, CNN.COM (Aug. 23, 2003), http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/23/geoghan/. 2 See Rev. Raymond C. O’Brien, Clergy, Sex and the American Way, 31 PEPP. L. REV. 363, 373, 374 (2004). Law died on December 20, 2017 in Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Fiscal Policy, Inequality and the Ethnic Divide in Guatemala”* Maynor Cabrera (Fedes), Nora Lustig (Tulane University) and Hilcías E
    “Fiscal Policy, Inequality and the Ethnic Divide in Guatemala”* Maynor Cabrera (Fedes), Nora Lustig (Tulane University) and Hilcías E. Morán (Bank of Guatemala) CEQ Working Paper No. 20 October 2014 Abstract Guatemala is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America and has the highest incidence of poverty. The indigenous population is more than twice as likely of being poor than the nonindigenous group. Fiscal incidence analysis based on the 2009-2010 National Survey of Family Income and Expenditures shows that taxes and transfers do almost nothing to reduce inequality and poverty overall or along ethnic and rural-urban lines. Persistently low tax revenues are the main limiting factor. Tax revenues are not only low but also regressive. Consumption taxes are regressive enough to offset the benefits of cash transfers: poverty after taxes and cash transfers is higher than market income poverty. Keywords: inequality, poverty, ethnic divide, fiscal incidence, taxes, social spending, Guatemala JEL Codes: D31, H22, I14 _________________________ * An earlier version of this paper was presented at the conference “Commitment to Equity: Fiscal Policy and Income Redistribution in Latin America” held at Tulane University, October 17-18, 2013. The authors are grateful to conference participants for very useful comments. The study for Guatemala is part of the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) project. Led by Nora Lustig since 2008, the CEQ is a joint initiative of the Center for Inter-American Policy and the Department of Economics, Tulane University and the Inter-American Dialogue. The study for Guatemala has been partially funded by the Gender and Diversity Division of the Inter-American Development Bank.
    [Show full text]
  • OPTICS and the CULTURE of MODERNITY in GUATEMALA CITY SINCE the LIBERAL REFORMS a Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate St
    OPTICS AND THE CULTURE OF MODERNITY IN GUATEMALA CITY SINCE THE LIBERAL REFORMS A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By MICHAEL D. KIRKPATRICK © Michael D. Kirkpatrick, September 2013. All rights reserved. Permission to Use In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the department Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copy or publication use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any use which may be made of any material in my thesis. i ABSTRACT In the years after the Liberal Reforms of the 1870s, the capitalization of coffee production and buttressing of coercive labour regimes in rural Guatemala brought huge amounts of surplus capital to Guatemala City. Individual families—either invested in land or export houses—and the state used this newfound wealth to transform and beautify the capital, effectively inaugurating the modern era in the last decades of the nineteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • World Bank Document
    ReportNo. 12313-GU Guatemala An Assessmentof Poverty Public Disclosure Authorized April 17, 1995 Country Department If Human ResourcesOperations Division Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office U~~~~~ Public Disclosure Authorized #W:~~~~~~~~2;- V Public Disclosure Authorized j -*a I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~T~4 Public Disclosure Authorized Currency Equivalents (as of December 14, 1994) Currency Unit = Quetzal (Q) US$ 1.00 = Q 5.78 Fiscal Year January-December GUATEMALA: AN ASSESSMENT OF POVERTY LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ARI - Acute Respiratory Infections AVANCSO - Association for the Advance of the Social Sciences (Asociaci6npara el Avance de las Ciencias Sociales en Guatemala) BANDESA - National Bank for Agricultural Development (Banco Nacional para el Desarrollo Agriculo) BOG - Bank of Guatemala CACM - Central American Common Market CEPAL - Economic Commissionfor Latin America and the Caribbean (UN) CDUR - Urban and Rural Development Councils (Consejos de Desarrollo Urbano y Rural) CG - Central Government CISMA - Center for Mayan Social Research (Centro de Investigaci6nSocial Maya) DIGEBOS - National Extension Service--Forestry (Direcci6n General de Bosques) DIGEPA - Project Support Office (Ministry of Education) (Direcci6n General de Proyectos de Apoyo) DIGESA - National Extension Service--Agriculture DIGESEPE - National Extension Service--Livestock DTP - Department of Technical Planning ENSD - National Socio-Demographic Household Survey (Encuesta Nacional Sociodemografica) FAFIDESS - National Financial ConsultingFoundation
    [Show full text]
  • The Search for the "Manchurian Candidate" the Cia and Mind Control
    THE SEARCH FOR THE "MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE" THE CIA AND MIND CONTROL John Marks Allen Lane Allen Lane Penguin Books Ltd 17 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1 OBD First published in the U.S.A. by Times Books, a division of Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., Inc., and simultaneously in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd, 1979 First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane 1979 Copyright <£> John Marks, 1979 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner ISBN 07139 12790 jj Printed in Great Britain by f Thomson Litho Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland J For Barbara and Daniel AUTHOR'S NOTE This book has grown out of the 16,000 pages of documents that the CIA released to me under the Freedom of Information Act. Without these documents, the best investigative reporting in the world could not have produced a book, and the secrets of CIA mind-control work would have remained buried forever, as the men who knew them had always intended. From the documentary base, I was able to expand my knowledge through interviews and readings in the behavioral sciences. Neverthe- less, the final result is not the whole story of the CIA's attack on the mind. Only a few insiders could have written that, and they choose to remain silent. I have done the best I can to make the book as accurate as possible, but I have been hampered by the refusal of most of the principal characters to be interviewed and by the CIA's destruction in 1973 of many of the key docu- ments.
    [Show full text]
  • Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making Behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2017 In Darker Shadows: Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy William R. Weber Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Weber, William R., "In Darker Shadows: Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy" (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6928. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6928 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. In Darker Shadows: Intelligence Analysis and Decision-making Behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy William R. Weber Thesis submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History James F. Siekmeier, Ph.D., Chair Michelle M. Stephens, Ph.D. David M. Hauser, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: CIA; Guatemala; Analyst; Intelligence Community; Cold War; Eisenhower; Árbenz; Covert Action, Decision-making Copyright 2017 William R.
    [Show full text]
  • Carlos Castillo Armas, the United States and the 1954 Counterrevolution in Guatemala
    CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 1954 COUNTERREVOLUTION IN GUATEMALA Andres Alberto Tapia B.A., University of California, Davis, 2009 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO FALL 2011 CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 1954 COUNTERREVOLUTION IN GUATEMALA A Thesis by Andres Alberto Tapia Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Joseph Palermo __________________________________, Second Reader Patrick Ettinger ____________________________ Date ii Student: Andres Alberto Tapia I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Mona Siegel Date Department of History iii Abstract of CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 1954 COUNTERREVOLUTION IN GUATEMALA by Andres Alberto Tapia Statement of Problem The 1954 overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz Gúzman orchestrated by the United States has been approached by various points of view by different historians. While many aspects of the overthrow such as the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency, the influence of the United Fruit Company, and the Guatemalan government’s relation to communism have all been covered, one crucial player in the overthrow, Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, has not gained the same critical attention. Castillo Armas acted as the counterrevolutionary the CIA chose to lead the overthrow of Arbenz therefore understanding how he received the role and how he performed his task is important to understanding this historical moment.
    [Show full text]
  • Functions of the Offices in the Banco De Guatemala
    FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICES IN THE BANCO DE GUATEMALA Following is a general description of the functions for the different offices in the institution and which constitutes an instrument of a purely internal procedural nature, which content allows knowing the activities in the Banco de Guatemala in broad strokes in a clear, objective and general manner, for the compliance of the fundamental objective In the same manner, it constitutes an orientation tool for the execution and follow up of the work in each office. In that sense, the summary of the day-to-day for each administrative unit is the following: EXECUTION COMMITTEE Execute the Monetary, Foreign Exchange Rate and Credit Policy determined by the Monetary Board and comply with the attributions established in the organic law of the institution. INTERNAL AUDIT Develop independent and objective activities to ensure and give consultancy in the field of its competence, to add value and propose improvements regarding the operations of the Banco de Guatemala, with the purpose of supporting the institution in the fulfillment of its objectives, providing a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluating and suggesting changes that will contribute to improving risk management, control and administration processes. Studies Auditing Unit Advising the Administration in financial, accounting and internal control matters. Financial Auditing Unit Assess the effectiveness of internal control, continuously, in response to the risks that may affect the reliability and integrity of the information contained in the financial statements of the Banco de Guatemala, the trusts which the Banco de Guatemala acts as a trustee, funds management and information related to budgetary execution; as well as to assess the compliance of the laws, regulations, and other applicable guidelines.
    [Show full text]