Guable In Guatemala Essay

TROUBLE IN GUATEMALA
With the escalating demand of bananas from Central America and the greed that fueled the expansion of the banana crop, the United States sought out an opportunity to expand economically. Blinded by the benefits of having such a successful business in foreign land, the U.S. was eager to do whatever was necessary to keep their dream alive. Because of the United States’ involvement in the United Fruit Company’s reign of terror, they are in fact responsible for the tragedy that struck Guatemala, the fall of their democratic government and the massacre of its people, during the 1950s.
Firstly, it is important to reflect on the events that led to the coup of Guatemala, and how their struggle to find the perfect, reliable government contributed to their history. After experiencing much distress with former leader, Forge Ubico, the country was able to experience the benefits of having a democratic government with the election of their first democratic president, Juan José Arévalo (Gonzalez, 2011, p. 136). During Arévalo’s time in office, the Guatemalan government made efforts to mend the gap between the rich and poor, as well as tend to the uneven distribution of poverty by devising a

But, how does the United States come to play in all of this? As a matter of fact, the U.S. government was responsible for creating policies that only benefited the UFCO, and did so intentionally because they were blinded by their own self-interest. For example, the CIA was in charge of organizing the plan to overthrow Guatemalan President Arbenz (Gonzalez, 2011, p. 137), and thus must be held accountable for the fall of their government. In addition to this, the U.S. continued to assist Castillo’s far past the coup (Gonzalez, 2011, p.137), and therefore are an antagonist in this time of trouble in