Guatemalan Revolution

In 1944 a popular uprising in Guatemala overthrew the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico, opening ten years of democratic reform ended by a CIA backed coup.

Overview

Protests by students, teachers, and workers forced the dictator Jorge Ubico to resign on 1 July 1944, and in October a revolt by young officers and civilians ousted his successor. Juan Jose Arevalo was elected president and introduced a labor code, social security, and expanded education. His successor Jacobo Arbenz carried out an agrarian reform in 1952 that expropriated uncultivated land, including holdings of the United Fruit Company. The United States, citing fears of communism, organized a coup that removed Arbenz in 1954. The years from 1944 to 1954 are remembered in Guatemala as the Ten Years of Spring, followed by decades of military rule and civil war.