Following a successful democratic election in 1950, Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán prevailed as a reform-minded leader committed to addressing Guatemala’s deep social inequalities. At the heart of his platform was an ambitious land reform program aimed at redistributing idle agricultural land, including much of United Fruit’s holding, to landless peasants. This reform, though popular among the impoverished majority, sent shockwaves through United Fruit’s boardroom and its allies in the U.S. government.
United Fruit took no time in denouncing both the action as illegal and Arbenz as a communist in power that would threaten American interests. The company hired the public relations firm of Edward Bernays, the so-called ‘father of public relations,’ to launch a sophisticated campaign branding Árbenz as a communist puppet. This narrative, though largely baseless, proved successful in a society rife with fears of a potential communist infiltration close to US territory........
Using carefully crafted press releases, lobbying efforts, and films like Journey to Banana Land, United Fruit painted Guatemala as a burgeoning Soviet beachhead in the Western Hemisphere.
These efforts gained traction among U.S. policymakers. The fact that several high-ranking U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who had previously served as United Fruit’s attorney, and CIA Director Allen Dulles, both had personal and financial ties to United Fruit, only amplified the company’s influence.
With allies in the US government and the 1953 election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who adopted a harder stance against communism than his Democratic predecessors. United Fruit hired former Marine John Clements, a public relations expert who shared the anti-communist sentiment of the CIA and the President. Clements distributed reports to over eight hundred influential conservatives, claiming that Árbenz planned to seize the Panama Canal and turn Guatemala into a communist stronghold.
Bernays, United Fruit’s public relations mastermind, skilfully manipulated American public opinion. He courted journalists from outlets like The New York Times, Time Magazine, and The Miami Herald, flying them to Central America on United Fruit’s dime. These reporters were introduced to company employees and handpicked societal figures while being fed a narrative of rising communist terror taking hold close to American soil.
Meanwhile, radio broadcasts using the company-owned telecommunications infrastructure broadcasted a station known as the ‘Voice of Liberation.’ Operated by CIA operative Howard Hunt, this broadcast sought to spread lies about Árbenz and his wife, accusing them both of being Soviet agents, going as far as to claim they were antichrists.
The new ambassador to Guatemala following the election of Eisenhower was Jack Peurifoy, a self-described ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ American patriot. Peurifoy, steeped in anti-communist sentiment, immediately began pressuring Árbenz, accusing his government of being a Soviet bridgehead. During a tense dinner meeting, Peurifoy dismissed Árbenz’s complaints about United Fruit, instead fixating on the communist rumours spread by American journalists.
Fresh from Egypt where the monarchy had recently fallen, Howard Hunt became the CIA’s point man for the coup, code-named Operation PBSUCCESS. From an airbase in a Florida swamp, Hunt coordinated propaganda campaigns, including fictitious radio broadcasts, to demoralise Árbenz’s government. He enlisted anti-Árbenz Guatemalans, from clergy to business leaders, and scripted a narrative of chaos.
Castillo Armas, a Guatemalan exile, was chosen to lead the coup. He was housed in a United Fruit plantation in Honduras close to the Guatemalan border, ready to await CIA orders. Armas’s small force of exiles launched an invasion in June 1954.
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