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{{Short description, State-security committee in Guatemala The National Committee of Defense Against Communism ( es, Comité Nacional de Defensa contra El Comunismo) was a committee formed on 19 July 1954 in
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
by president Carlos Castillo at the request of the United States
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
. The Committee's primary goal was to fight alleged threats to the government of Guatemala by persons the Committee named as
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
subversives.


Background

Carlos Castillo was an anti- liberal,
anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
Guatemalan army officer who helped overthrow the dictatorship of
Jorge Ubico Jorge Ubico Castañeda (10 November 1878 – 14 June 1946), nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan dictator. A general in the Guatemalan army, he was elected to the presidency in 1931, in an election where ...
in 1944. As the October Revolution of 1944 continued, he became angry with the administration of
Juan José Arévalo Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 – 8 October 1990) was a Guatemalan professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United ...
after the assassination of Colonel Javier Arana, someone that Castillo respected highly. In November 1950, Castillo attempted to overthrow the Arévalo administration with seventy of his followers. The coup failed, several of his soldiers were killed, and Castillo himself was shot and captured. However, he managed to scape in 1952 and fled to
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
. In August 1953, Castillo became the "Liberator" of Guatemala, supported by the Eisenhower administration and specifically the CIA, with the aim of overthrowing the allegedly pro-communist administration of
Jacobo Arbenz Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alfredo Jacobo (born 1982), Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Mexico * Cesar Chavez Jacobo, Dominican professio ...
, Arévalo's successor. With that backing, Castillo successfully completed a coup ( PBSuccess) against the Arbenz administration and on 1 September 1954 he was officially declared president of Guatemala.


The National Committee

On July 19, 1954, Castillo formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism upon the recommendation of the CIA. This was coupled with the
Preventive Penal Law Against Communism The Preventive Penal Law Against Communism ( es, Ley Preventiva Penal Contra el Comunismo) was a Guatemalan decree passed by the military junta of Carlos Castillo Armas on 24 August 1954. The decree was preceded by the formation of the National ...
. Its primary goal was to root out threats to the Castillo administration by Communist ideologues and supporters. The Committee was given the power to convene in secret, as well as the power to arrest and detain, for up to six months, any persons declared by the Committee to be communist. Those declared communist by the Committee had no right to any kind of defense or appeal if they were charged of a crime under the Preventive Penal Law; they could not own shortwave radios or hold any kind of public office, local or national. By 21 November 1954, the Castillo administration and the National Committee had compiled a list of 72,000 persons deemed to be communists.


See also

*
History of Guatemala The history of Guatemala begins with the Maya civilization (300 BC – 250 AD), which was among those that flourished in their country. The country's modern history began with the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in 1524. Most of the great ...


References

*Stephen Kinzer, Stephen Schlesinger. ''Bitter Fruit''. 2005 Edition. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Anti-communist organizations Central Intelligence Agency Anti-communism in Guatemala History of Guatemala Political repression in Guatemala Organizations established in 1954 1954 establishments in Guatemala