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Witness History: The first CIA-backed coup in Latin America

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The first CIA-backed coup in Latin America

27/06/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The first CIA-backed coup in Latin America

President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala was overthrown in a revolt sponsored by the US

The first CIA-backed coup in Latin America took place in 1954, when President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala was overthrown and forced into exile.

In June 1954, the first CIA-backed coup took place in Guatemala, when President Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown in a operation organised by the US government. The Administration of Dwight D Eisenhower feared his policies - which included a land reform - could threaten the interests of one of the most powerful firms in the US at the time – the United Fruit Company.

Arbenz was labelled a communist, and he was forced into a long exile that took him and his family to seek shelter across Europe and Latin America. Arbenz's son told Mike Lanchin in 2016 about the devastating impact the coup had on his family.

(Photo: The Arbenz family in 1955. Credit: RDB via Getty)

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