In June 1954, Operation PBSuccess (a covert operation directed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) orchestrated the invasion of Guatemala from Honduras by a force of Guatemalan mercenaries.
The successful coup d’état deposed the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz and installed a military dictatorship under Carlos Castillo Armas, the first in a series of U.S.-backed authoritarian rulers in the country.
Important factors influencing the U.S. decision to intervene included:
- U.S. Cold War attitude regarding the spread of communism in Latin America
- President Árbenz’s legalization of the communist Guatemalan Party of Labour
- Influential lobbying by the United Fruit Company that profited from exploitative labor practices in Guatemala