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Title: Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala by Stephen C. Schlesinger, Stephen Kinzer, John H. Coatsworth, John H. Coatsworth ISBN: 0-674-07590-0 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: August, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Destroying democracy under the charade of anti-Communism
Comment: Schlesinger's and Kinzer's classic study examines one of the more disgraceful chapters in the history of American foreign policy: the CIA-sponsored overthrow in 1954 of the democratically elected government of Guatemala. The long-term repercussions of this unprovoked excursion are still felt today; many Latin American countries still do not trust United States intentions because of our actions in both Guatemala and, two decades later, Chile.
"Bitter Fruit" explodes some cherished myths that apologists for the coup have proffered over the years. First, it's clear that Roosevelt rather than Stalin provided the inspiration to the presidencies of Juan Jose Arevalo (1945-1951) and Jacobo Arbenz Guzman (1951-1954). Both Arevalo and Arbenz were motivated by the policies and practices of the New Deal; their support for labor and their actions towards American businesses must be viewed in this light and were never any worse than the laws passed during the Depression in the United States. Regardless of whatever tolerance Guatemalan Communists may have enjoyed, or influence they may have had--and it's clear that they didn't have much--the Eisenhower administration was motivated as much by scorn of the Roosevelt and Truman years as by anti-Communism. (Tellingly, those who cite Che Guevera's presence in Guatemala often fail to note that his arrival, at the age of 25 in early 1954, postdated the planning of American intervention and predated by many years Guevera's notoriety.)
Second, the succession of American puppets who succeeded Arbenz were certainly not supported by the people of Guatemala: the ragtag opposition "army" never exceeded 400 troops in number, and none of the dictators during the next four decades could have survived a freely held election. Between 1954 and the early 1990s, tens of thousands of civilians were imprisoned, executed, or "disappeared" at the fleeting whims of a series of brutal tyrants--and this, to most Central Americans, is the "bottom line" legacy of American interference. Third, some defend American intervention because the Guatemalan land reforms in the early 1950s "stole" property from the United Fruit Company. What the supporters of the company's property rights rarely acknowledge is that one of the company's early founders, Samuel Zemurray, acquired its land, as well as a railroad monopoly, by organizing from New Orleans a coup in 1905 that overthrew the existing government and installing UFC's own puppet--all in violation of American law. In addition, when the Arbenz government attempted to compensate UFC for the land (all of it fallow), the company admitted that it had fraudulently undervalued their holdings for tax purposes at $627,000; the land was worth closer to $16 million.
And, finally, what is clear from Schlesinger's and Kinzer's account is that the Americans behind the 1954 coup, from Ambassador John Peurifoy to the Dulles brothers to Eisenhower himself, knew that what they were doing was indefensible. In order to "sell" the coup at all they had to invent a propagandistic war against a democratically elected government to a gullible American media. Not surprisingly, they covered up and denied American involvement not only at the time but during the ensuing years. Furthermore, many of the participants who survived into the late 1970s either confessed their regret to the authors of this book or admitted that the horrific long-term consequences of the coup in no way justified its short-term "success."
The American adventure in Guatemala was fostered by bad intelligence, furthered by greedy intentions, and executed with no coherent strategy, and it dealt a serious blow both to democracy and to the immediate and long-term interests of the United States government. Meticulously documented, this blood-boiling yet even-handed study should be read by all who are concerned by the consequences of ill-conceived, unilaterally executed, and short-sighted foreign policy planning.
Rating: 4
Summary: another 'forgotten intervention'
Comment: Along with the 'Sandino Affiar' this book is a classic detailing american 'imperialism' in the areas covered by the Monroe Doctrin. This book details the 1954 coup in Guatemala in which a lefitst was overthrown. THis is reminiscent of the 1973 coup in Chili where Allende was overthrown. America has been implicated in both coups, yet their is much more evidence for this one. Guatemla was a hot bed of communists in the 50s, Che Guevara himself was their! The Americans sent down some dirty tricks people, many of whom would alter be employed as 'plumbers' under Nixon(people like Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy).
THis is a quick and interesting read. 'Intervention' the story of Americas search for Poncho Villa in Mexico is also an interesting account in this genre.
Rating: 5
Summary: Every U.S. citizen should be made to read this book
Comment: A brilliantly written account of just one of the CIA/US govt crimes in the world (this one was called Operation Success), this book was so compelling that I couldn't put it down. The US paranoia against the communist threat led to some not very intelligent people, including Eisenhower, to assist in ridding the Western Hemisphere of anything that vaguely resembled a left wing movement, and installing the usual Latin American style, U.S. sponsored despotic dictatorship (also, see Nicaragua, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, etc). When Arbenz reasoned about the Comunists in his goverment by saying "it's better to have them visible then to have them underground", no one, of course took notice. According to one set of research figures published in the book, the years which followed Arbenz's downfall have seen the death or dissapearance of up to 200,000 people. The authors of this book have done a fantastic job of revealing this part of American history in a very clear and concise manner, and all I can say is that it's a shame that Allen Dulles, the CIA director at the time, and his stoolies never got to be tried in court for the atrocities they were responsible for committing.
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Title: All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer ISBN: 0471265179 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 18 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Silence on the Mountain: Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemala by Daniel Wilkinson ISBN: 0618221395 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 26 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Secret History: The Cia's Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 1952-1954 by Nick Cullather, Piero Gleijeses ISBN: 0804733112 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability (A National Security Archive Book) by Peter Kornbluh ISBN: 1565845862 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: 11 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The CIA in Guatemala : The Foreign Policy of Intervention by Richard H. Immerman ISBN: 0292710836 Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1983 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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