2. Jacobo Árbenz, Guatemala (1954)
In 1954, the United States orchestrated Operation PBSuccess to depose Guatemala’s democratically elected President Jacobo Árbenz. Árbenz’s agrarian reform, which redistributed uncultivated lands to impoverished peasants, threatened the interests of the U.S.-based United Fruit Company. The CIA’s covert operation led to Árbenz’s resignation and exile, installing Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas as president. This intervention precipitated decades of political instability and brutal civil wars in Guatemala. (britannica.com)
