Heather Airaudi
Margaret Kerkstra
Marlena Mathis
Karen Olson
Professor Madden
English 450
9 December 2008

The growth and expansion of the United Fruit Company in Guatemala, the “Ten years of springtime”, and the threat of Communism all led to the Civil War in Guatemala. Each one of these factors attributed to the civil strife in Guatemala. The Civil War, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, was a horrendous war which had a large impact on the citizens Guatemala. The war was mainly fought between the government of Guatemala and insurgents. But there were different types of people involved such as the Mayans, Plantation owners, and the Landinos. These groups of people had their own views on what caused the longest civil war in Latin American history. The United Fruit Company’s involvement in the economic development led to financial loss to the Mayan Indians, and the “Ten Years of Springtime” led to retaliation against the reform by those who did not wish for change. The threat of Communism caused the United States to take a step in preventing the spread of political ideals.

A cause for the Civil War was the growth of the United Fruit Company in Guatemala, which led to financial loss among the Mayan Indians. In 1936 Guatemalan President and Dictator Ubico signed a concession with the United Fruit Company. Together with the U.S. State Department and the CIA the U.F.C. took 42% of the Guatemalan land. A tariff was charged on all freight going in and out of the country. This caused financial loss among the Mayan people, because big plantations were growing larger, and the owners were becoming more economically sound. As a result, the Mayans started to suffer financially, “The Indian could only find work on seasonal basis and those who could not find work often found their way into the informal economy as street peddlers or sub proletarians” (L.Proyect). In 1957 President Jacob Arbenz Guzman was elected. He redistributed 60,000 acres of U.F.C.’s land to the peasants. Arbenz wanted to receive titles to the U.F.C.’s land and use it to grow food to sell through internal markets, and Central American nations. This put the U.F.C. on the defense, many Americans worked for the U.F.C. and they were dependent on their trade with the company. Any loss in land, and consequently profit was not foreseeable for the company. With the backing of the CIA, and the Guatemalan military, the U.S. State Department overthrew President Arbenz. Then, the Department led a major public relations campaign in America to convince their nation and others that Guatemalans’ were communist. Mayans struggled with their government and the military for the right to use their own land; in the late 1960’s the government denied the Mayans loans for farmland, and they were given no access to the country’s judicial and financial systems. They were dependent on their land to live since it is where they grew their food, and if they were lucky, sold their food for export. “70% of the population depended on agriculture for a living, almost half of the farming units representing 165,850 families” (Handy 82). If the Mayans stayed where they were, they would starve, so they were forced to flee to the highlands.

Second most crucial causes of the civil war, according to the plantation owners, were the “Ten years of springtime” that lasted from 1944 to 1954. This was a period of free speech, political activity, proposed land reform, and the perception that progress would undoubtedly be made in Guatemala. When Juan Jose Arevalo was elected president in 1944 he formed a new constitution that would give attention to the lower and middle-class Guatemalans and would restrict the higher class people. These reforms were designed to assimilate the indigenous Indian into Guatemalan society. He also established social security and a labor code for workers rights and benefits. One large occurrence was a land reform law that was established in 1952 when Arbenz Guzman became leader, which attempted to take unused agricultural land from property owners and give it to the landless rural workers. “More than 162,000 hectares of government –owned land was also distributed to rural residents” (Guatemala). This angered the plantation owners taking their only means of producing goods. The plantation owners had to stop this someway, so they “organized and trained corps of eager Guatemalan exiles than launched and invasion to bring down the government” (Before the Genocide). In 1954, “A group of Guatemalan exiles, commanded by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, were armed and trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and U.S. Marine Corps officers”(Guatemala). This elite group successfully executed a covert operation and overthrew the currently elected President Arbenz of Guatemala. Inevitably, the plantation lands were restored to the previous white plantation owners, including the United Fruit Company. This reform increased tensions between the rural residents and the plantation owners and ultimately led to a thirty-six year Civil War in Guatemala.

A third cause of the civil war, from the viewpoint of the Ladino, was the threat of communism. Both Juan Jose Arevalo and Jacobo Arbenz Guzman surrounded themselves with advisors that displayed communist views. Although Arevalo had publicly denounced communism, he was surrounded by many young politicians that expressed Marxist ideals. In 1950 Jacobo Arbenz came into power, continuing with reforms favoring the indigenous Indian. That same year, the Communist Party of Guatemala was formed by several members formerly belonging to the Partido de Accion Revolucionaria (Handy 41). In 1952 lands belonging to large landowners were redistributed amongst the peasants under the Agrarian Reform Law. This law deepened the Ladino fears of communism. The military were “vigorous opponents of local agrarian organizers” (Handy 186). In many cases they helped landowners avoid the agrarian reform. Complaints were filed against the military and Arbenz had them removed them from the community. The leaders of the military felt that Arbenz was interfering in their affairs. They were also upset with Arbenz for organizing armed civilian militia groups following the death of Francisco Arana. In June of 1954, leaders of the Guatemalan military met with Arbenz, expressing their concerns with his associations with communists and the influence that they had over Arbenz {Handy 189). These leaders apparently had given Arbenz an ultimatum to “oust the communists” (Handy 189). Not long after, on June 27, 1954, Arbenz resigned from power, when the military failed to support him against the U. S. backed Carlos Castillo Armas.

There were many different things that attributed to the Guatemalan civil war, but the three main causes were; the growth and expansion of the United Fruit Company in Guatemala, the “Ten years of springtime”, and the threat of Communism. Without these main factors, the civil war in Guatemala may not have happened and the citizens of that war torn country may have experienced a better world without war and death.