The Guatemalan coup is a huge piece of history most people don’t learn about. The history behind it is important to both the US and Guatemala with current events. We can learn a lot from the events and causes behind the coup. The three sources I choose to analyze show the history, impact and effects of the Guatemalan coup for both parties.
The main topic of the Book, “Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World” is to analyze the development and evolution of the United Fruit Company. It discusses the Monopoly of the fruit industry and discusses and investigates how the Fruit company became a pillar in the Coup. The author, Peter Chapman, is a Financial Times writer. All kinds of evidence are considered from what I read. The assumptions made are that the reader has some kind of knowledge into the Guatemalan coup to begin with. Not everyone was taught about it in school, so the basis that most readers already know is difficult to work with. The strengths in this book are apparent with the depth of information provided compared to the other sources. This source fits in with the other secondary sources I included because it includes a different perspective on the same topic. Using this method, we can see that while the primary focus of the Guatemalan coup is the same, but the depth of information varies. It goes into depth about the connection to the coup via the company.
The main topic of the Book, “Bitter fruit the story of the American coup in Guatemala, revised and expanded”, is discussing and analyzing the role played by the US and the United Fruit Company. Stephen Schlesinger is a historian, political commentator, and international affairs specialist. The focus is similar in topic to Bananas in the way it focuses primarily on the UFCO.
The main topic of the Book chapter “Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944-1954” is focusing on the replacements after The Fall of Ponce. It follows the installment of the Juntas after the takedown of Ponce. Piero Gleijeses is a professor of United States foreign policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
This book talks about the United Fruit Company’s role in the Guatemalan coup, and “How Operation Success was conceived by men who didn’t understand what was happening in Guatemala, who did not understand the nature of Latin America.” The book asks valuable questions like if Arbenz was a threat and if Operation success was necessary or just a way to advance US interest. In this chapter, they tell of the fall of ponce, being the beginning of the Guatemalan revolution, and how Ponce was replaced with a three-man Junta (a military ran government), Major Arana, Captain Arbenz and civilian Jorge Toriello. It also discusses how this Junta promised a congress and president, and how trade unions upped their presence on plantations owned by the United Fruit Company. The chapter also discusses the slaughter of Patzicia.
Sources:
Chapman, Peter. Bananas : How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World. New York: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, 2009. Accessed April 22, 2026. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wooster/reader.action?docID=5504137&ppg=1&c=UERG
Gleijeses, Piero. Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944-1954. Princeton University Press, 1991. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1fkgdbs
Schlesinger, S., Kinzer, S., Coatsworth, J. H., & Nuccio, R. A. (1982). Bitter fruit the story of the American coup in Guatemala, revised and expanded. Harvard University Press.