Complete Thesis_double spaced abstract.pdf

(1954) and Armas (1954-1957). The final two individuals were a result of the assassination of
Armas, Gonzalez (1957) and Flores (1957). While Guatemala had a brief democratic interlude,
begun under the term of President Arévalo and finished under President Arbenz, from the 1954
coup until the end of the period in 1960 marks Guatemala’s return to authoritarian rule.
By 1960 General Ydígoras was at the midpoint of his presidential tenure. General
Ydígoras was known for his close ties to Ubico and his two previous attempts at the presidential
office. He was initially the preferred candidate of the military establishment; finally elected in
1958 after initial accusations of electoral fraud he soon alienated the younger officer corps with
his regime’s “rampant corruption” (Black,1984, 19). The younger officers were further offended
with General Ydígoras’ permissive attitude toward the U.S. military operating within Guatemala.
A substantial number of officers staged an unsuccessful coup in 1960, later in the spring of 1962
many of these officers reorganized with students and labor leaders to lead massive strikes
throughout the state. In only a few years General Ydígoras had managed to alienate nearly all
sources of potential support. A second coup was attempted in 1962 by elites and members of the
air force. By the end of 1962 students, public sector workers, labor unions, the business sector,
members of the military, the Catholic Church, all three opposition parties, and leadership in the
United States all abandoned support for the leader. 15
After allowing Arévalo to return to
Guatemala for a possible presidential candidacy, with the consent and possible assistance of the
United States government, General Ydígoras was removed definitively from power by the
military in 1963 (Schlesinger and Kinzer, 1982, 242-243).
General Peralta Azurdia took over the presidency after the ouster of General Ydígoras; he
was approved by the Guatemalan military and the United States government. President Peralta, a
Guatemalan nationalist, continued the tradition of authoritarian rule. He successfully
15 Handy, 153. General Ydígoras was never the preferred presidential candidate of the United States.
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