Carlos Castillo Armas

Carlos Castillo Armas was a Guatemalan military officer who led the 1954 coup that overthrew President Jacobo Árbenz and ruled Guatemala until his assassination in 1957.

Guatemalan Revolution: A period of political upheaval in Guatemala from 1944 to 1954 that brought reformist governments to power. The revolution created the political order Castillo Armas helped overthrow.
Operation PBSUCCESS: A 1954 CIA operation to overthrow Guatemala’s president Jacobo Árbenz. Castillo Armas led the exile force at the center of this covert operation.
Decree 900 repeal: The reversal of Guatemala’s 1952 agrarian reform law after Árbenz was overthrown. Castillo Armas’s government returned much expropriated land to its former owners.
Jorge Ubico: Guatemalan dictator who ruled from 1931 to 1944 before being forced from office by a popular uprising. The political order Castillo Armas inherited had been transformed by Ubico’s overthrow.
Jacobo Árbenz: Guatemala’s president from 1951 to 1954, whose land reform and nationalist policies provoked domestic and foreign opposition. Árbenz’s government was the target of Castillo Armas’s coup.
Central Intelligence Agency: The United States intelligence agency responsible for collecting foreign intelligence and conducting covert operations. The CIA organized, equipped, and supported Castillo Armas’s campaign.
National Liberation Movement (Guatemala): A Guatemalan political party founded by supporters of Castillo Armas and associated with anti-communist rule. It became the political vehicle for the regime that followed the coup.
Árbenz government: The Guatemalan administration led by Jacobo Árbenz from 1951 until his overthrow in 1954. Its reform program and nationalist policies stood against Castillo Armas’s restoration project.
Decree 900: A 1952 Guatemalan land-reform law that redistributed large uncultivated estates to landless farmers. The law sharpened opposition to Árbenz and became central to the coup’s justification.
Psychological warfare: The use of communication and other influence techniques to shape an opponent’s beliefs and behavior. Radio broadcasts and rumors made the invading force seem stronger than it was.

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