Guatemala, a Central American republic, had three million inhabitants in 1950, 60 percent of whom were of Mayan descent. However, the country only owned 10 percent of its own land. The remaining 90 percent belonged to several wealthy oligarch families, mostly of European descent. The indigenous population was subjected to a system of forced labor and debt slavery. As a result, there was widespread poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition. The political situation was also extremely volatile. Governments changed frequently, often as a result of uprisings.
In 1950, the Swiss colony had 320 inhabitants, most of whom belonged to the underrepresented middle class. Jacobo Arbenz was born in one of these houses in 1913. His father, Hans Jacob, came from Andelfingen in Zurich and moved to Guatemala in 1899 at the age of 16. There he worked for his uncle Luis Gröbli, a merchant from Frauenfeld. Jacobo’s father later opened a pharmacy in Quezaltenango, not far from the capital Guatemala City. However, Jacobo’s social status deteriorated over time as his father suffered from depression and eventually committed suicide in 1934.
Jacobo, who had just graduated from high school at the age of 17, was forced to attend the Polytechnic Military School of Guatemala due to financial constraints. Although he never spoke the dialect, Jacobo’s relationship with Switzerland was close. His classmates even called him El Suizo. The ‘Swiss’ distinguished himself as a skilled officer and was appointed instructor in 1935.
In 1939, Jacobo married Maria Vilanova Kreitz, from neighboring El Salvador. Maria had a multilingual and university education thanks to her father, a wealthy Bavarian coffee plantation owner. The marriage aroused a political urge in Arbenz. Despite his military career and background, he saw the socio-political conditions in the country with different eyes.
As a captain, Jacobo Arbenz took part in the coup against dictator Federico Ponce Vaides, appointed by Jorge Ubico on October 20, 1944. At the age of 31, he was a member of Guatemala’s first democratically elected government under President Juan José Arevalo. A triumvirate of civilians and officers that has successfully implemented several democratic reforms. In retrospect, this was an attempt by the middle class, which barely existed at the time, to take political power and limit the army and the local oligarchy.
On November 11, 1950, 37-year-old Jacobo Arbenz was democratically elected president of Guatemala. With his plans for comprehensive agricultural reforms and plans to expropriate large landowners in exchange for compensation and distribute the land to poor farmers, the new president quickly made powerful enemies. Above all, the American company United Fruit Company (UFC)now known as Chiquita. UFC was the largest landowner and controlled large parts of Guatemala’s infrastructure, including railway lines, electrical grids, and Guatemala’s only shipping port on the Atlantic Ocean, Puerto Barrios.
The company launched a ‘PR campaign’ against Arbenz’s government. Main message: With the help of the Soviet Union, a communist regime is established in Guatemala. At the height of the McCarthy era, the US’s fanatical fight against communism, such support from the US government was really just a formality. And right in the middle of it all, the Dulles brothers.
Within the UFC The brothers John Foster and Allen Dulles, who worked as head of the American intelligence service OSS in Bern during the Second World War and organized ‘Operation Sunrise’ in Ascona in 1945, were closely involved. John Foster Dulles represented the 1930s UFC and the Guatemalan dictatorships, Allen Dulles was a lawyer in the 1950s UFC-Board member. In January 1953, when President Eisenhower took office, John Foster Dulles became US Secretary of State and his younger brother Allen became the first Secretary of State. C.I.A-Director appointed.
The connection between UFC and the US government paid off very quickly. Equipped and financed by the C.I.A Backed by neighboring dictatorships Honduras and El Salvador, a few hundred coupists stormed into the country on June 18, 1954 and overthrew Jacobo Arbenz. Also because – under the influence of American propaganda – he underestimated the strength of the enemy.
Arbenz and his family were then forced to leave the country under humiliating circumstances, and a long odyssey began. They moved often and only stayed in one place for a few months. From 1954 they lived in Mexico, France, Zermatt on a three-month tourist visa, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Uruguay. Between 1960 and 1966, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, even in Cuba. During the family’s stay, eldest daughter Arabella committed suicide in Bogota, sending Arbenz into a deep depression.
Jacobo Arbenz never applied for Swiss citizenship because he feared losing his Guatemalan citizenship and thus the possibility of ever returning to Guatemalan politics. Switzerland, which had completely bowed to American diplomatic pressure, also made no attempt to grant him permanent political asylum.
Arbenz spent his last years alone in Pully near Lausanne, where he struggled with depression and increasing alcoholism. He was spied on by Swiss authorities and eventually abandoned by his wife. In 1970, the former president of Guatemala left Switzerland for Mexico, where he was eventually granted permanent asylum. He died there on January 27, 1971 at the age of 57 from – according to the official version – heart failure.
SubscribeIn conclusion, Jacobo Arbenz’s presidency was pivotal in Guatemala’s history as he boldly attempted to eliminate social and economic inequality through land reform and infrastructure development. His efforts certainly had positive aspects for the country, such as empowering the peasantry, granting the opposition a free press and modernization. But conflicts with powerful interest groups and US interference due to Cold War dynamics abruptly ended his term.
The coup that overthrew him in 1954 had a negative effect on the political stability and economic situation in Guatemala and all of Latin America in the years that followed. Exactly the opposite of what Jacobo Arbenz had dreamed of.
Source: Blick
I am Ross William, a passionate and experienced news writer with more than four years of experience in the writing industry. I have been working as an author for 24 Instant News Reporters covering the Trending section. With a keen eye for detail, I am able to find stories that capture people’s interest and help them stay informed.
