The source I chose was The Guatemalan Reader. I am focusing specifically on two chapters from this book. Specifically, the chapter, Operation PBSUCCESS. The first of these documents focuses on Operation PBSUCCESS, created by the CIA to overthrow Jacobo Arbenz.
It reflects the intervention by the United States Government. Despite Arbenz’s Degree 900 land reform that gave land back to the people. The document details the actions, plans, and reasoning behind the operation. This is important because this was the second of two attempts to overthrow him, as the US government and The United Fruit Company were worried about losing economic control with the land reform he attempted. This was the entire cause of the coup, as the fruit company lobbied for the coup.
“When US president Dwight Eisenhower decided in August 1953 to overthrow Jacobo Arbenz, the agents in charge of the operation realized that a simple military revolt or invasion would not work. Even though social tensions had escalated in the wake of the 1952 agrarian reform law, Arbenz still enjoyed deep popular support. The opposition was divided, and the military was quiet. PBSUCCESS, as the CIA dubbed its campaign to overthrow the Arbenz government, became the agency’s most ambitious covert operation, a model for future actions.”
Source
Cullather, Nick. “Operation PBSUCCESS.” In The Guatemala Reader: History, Culture, Politics, edited by Greg Grandin, Deborah T. Levenson, and Elizabeth Oglesby. Duke University Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1198vws.52.