"Capitalist Window" Disillusionment

Generally speaking, in the study of the international Cold War history, works on American diplomatic relations with the third world countries is numerous. While, researchers do not pay enough attention to statelets such as Guatemala.The Chinese historiography circle has made several achievements on studying Guatemala’s diplomacy during the Cold War, but these mostly concentrated on the Guatemala’s coup in1954. Author tries to make a further investigation on Eisenhower and Kennedy government’s foreign policies toward Guatemala since the1954coup in the context of Cold War, so as to reveal and analyze the essence and impacts of them.The first chapter mainly discusses how Eisenhower government has helped Castillo administration to consolidate political rule by purging the so-called communist threats in Guatemala after the coup in1954. The Eisenhower administration devoted to strengthening the political control of the statelet, being wantonly engaged in "communist purge", suppressing democractic movements, implementing of the propaganda war and intervening in the labor movement. These acts of the U.S. played a vital role in the consolidation of authoritarian regime in Guatemala, andt they had brought severe suffering to the people of Guatemala.In first three sections of the second chapter, Eisenhower government fostered Ydigoras as a new agent and devoted to strengthen Guatemala domestic security forces to set up a so-called "counter-insurgency" countries through military assistance after assassination of Castillo. With the help of the U.S., the Ydigoras government consolidated its dictatorship ulteriorly.Under the pressure caused by Cuban Revolution, the U.S. treated Guatemala as a springboard to invade Cuba and built the "Trax" military base in Guatemala secretly for training the Cuban exiles. It was Eisenhower government’s interference in the internal affairs of Guatemala, especially the "Trax campsite" incident that aroused discontent of soldiers with nationalist tendency, which led to the "MR-13" uprising aiming at overthrowing Ydigoras government. Although the uprising collapsed because of the joint strangulation by forces inside and outside, it still shocked government of Guatemala to some extent.The last section of chapter2investigates the Eisenhower government’s economic policy toward Guatemala and its influences. In order to stabilize the political situation in Guatemala further, transform the economic downturnand built the whole country into a" Showcase for Democracy" in Latin America, Eisenhower government has given massive economic aids between1954and1961.By its development assistance programs,the U.S. also exerted profound influences to Guatemala’s macroeconomic planning, as well as developments of agriculture and public utilities. As the U.S. always considered anti-communism and their own economic interests as basic concept, these aid projects could not promote the economic development of Guatemala indeed.The third chapter mainly inspects the Kennedy government’s policy to Guatemala,containing implementation of "the Progressive Alliance" in Guatemala and Kennedy’s counter-guerrilla policy against the guerrilla movements. When President Kennedy took office, the Cold War situation in Latin America has become more serious. The alignment between the Soviet Union and Cuba, as well as the rise of guerrilla movement in Latin American posed a greater threat to America. In order to eliminate the influence of the Cuban revolution and not to touch the the fundamental interests of U.S. monopoly capitalists and their agents in Latin America, the Kennedy administration launched the "Alliance for Progress", in an attempt to prevent national movement from proceeding further by limited social reform. As a matter offact,"the Alliance for Progress" only had extremely limited effects,which did not play a catalytic role in socio-economic development in Guatemala. In the military, faced with the impact of the Guatemalan guerrilla movements against U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, the Kennedy administration implemented a "carrot and stick" anti-guerrilla policy.On the one hand, the U.S. enlarged the scale of its military assistance and training towards Guatemala; on the other hand, it carried out a "Civic Action Plan" to suppress the risk of violent revolution. Despite Kennedy’s anti-guerrilla policy had won a military victory, the actual effects of which was "success equals failure"In the last Chapter of the paper, author tries to make a relatively objective evaluation of the US’policy toward Guatemala during this period of time. Through the above analysis, it is not difficult to find that US’policy substantially serves its grand strategy of the cold war which aims at opposing communism, containing the Soviet Union and defending the interests of western world led by the United States. American’s policy to Guatemala has positive and negative effects on both the United States and Guatemala. In a word, Americans’attempts to make Guatemala "A Capitalism Window" disillusioned finally.