The Illusion of Communism

Constructing Enemies: The Illusion of Communism and U.S. Intervention in Guatemala 1944-1954 Abstract Understanding the history of Central America is quite impossible without an examination of the United States'' efforts at ensuring stable markets for the proprietor of 70% of the world''s banana supply, the Boston-based United Fruit Company (UFCO). This paper attempts to explore the relationship between the UFCO, the State Department, and Guatemala between 1944 and 1954, a time when Guatemalans began to challenge United …

…ed to protect the the freedom and independence of no one, save U.S. business executives. The United States'' intervention in Guatemala was both hypocritical and tragic. It did nothing to ensure freedom from foreign political domination like the Monroe Doctrine mandated, and did everything to establsih and sustain oppressive political structures that would ensure the subservience of Guatemalan political leaders to the UFCO and other U.S. firms for decades to come.