three radio stations in the same scale as in El Salvador.
1954, the United States, through the CIA, engineered the overthrow of the reformist president Col. Jacabo Arbenz.
began legal 178,000 acres owned by the United Alicacar Fruit Company, offering to pay generous compensallor. The United Fruit Company whose president was Alan Dulles •romer the US of state John Foster Dulles, began a big propaganda operation the same type as that waged by ITT against Chile's Allende.
The result was a CIA'El Salvador will win!' Speakers include Jon Snow, Fennis Augustine Friday 5 February 7pm Old Theatre, LSE, Houghton St, WC2 LAST WEEKEND left wing guerrillas occupied Guatemala City and forced them to broadcast propaganda against the dictatorial regime of Lucas Garcia. The success of the operation, which made fools of the security forces was further evidence of the growing strength of the guerrilla movement in that country. Last year more than 3,000 people died, victims of the army and the death squads. A situation of open civil war is approaching, on led exile invasion which overthrew Arbenz. It was the proto-type of the kind of operation which the US attempted to carry out at the Bay of Pigs in 1962.
Reforms Arbenz's CIA-picked Carlos Castillo succosul.
Armas stamped out every that Arbenz had attempted to institute. The labour movement was crushed; all land reform measures were reversed; the literacy campaign and the peasant co-operatives were closed down.
Since that time Guatemala has been conEl Salvador Solidarity Campaign Public Meeting on trolled by extreme right-wing landed oligarchy, backed by the security forces, who are so powerful and corrupt that they now own their own banks and have other extensive business interests.
ways, Guatemala is more important than EI • salvador or American nation. With a around seven million lal cest economically developed whole region. US investment is twice that in a salvador Guatemala has assumed even greater since the discovery of oil mortalice on its borders with MexIco.
The very strong ties between Guatemala US There 14,000-strong ex-patriate business community Guatemala City. This community las ver strong links with business interests in the south west US. most of the investment in Guatemala comes. Among this community are right wing associations which support the Lucas Garcia regime.
Coca-Cola The Asociacion de los Amigos ael rais irrenas of the Country Association) is led by Roberto Ale Guerrilla struggle in Guatemala challenges regime downer whose ranch was used as a training camp for the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Alejos Arzu Is also a member of the Fundacion Guatemalteca Libertad (Guatemalan Freedom Foundation)
ali Wild links the extreme right Wile Movement National Liberation (MLN)).
Fundacion member is John Trotter, a Texan lawyer who used to run the Coca Cola bottling OlalIL gained notoriety when a number of workers and leaders at the plant were murdered by right-wing squads finally, Coca-Cola were forced to remove the franchise from his plant. But Trotter HOTS friendly links with the supporters of Ronald Reagan in the Republican Party.
Guerrilla struggle started in the 1960s, under the leadership of the legendary Yon Sosa, but that struggle was soon defeated by brutal repression. But group in the 1970 which decided that no adwithout gaining support in the Indian population.
The Indians make up something like 53 per cent of the population and a large proportion of them are peasant larmers. rr a long time they have been land being seized by oil, nickel and forest) terests In its hunt for 'subversives', the army tortured kidnapped and murdered Indian peasant leaders. Every year half a million Indians alc forced to migrate to the cotton, sugar and coffee plantations along the Pacific Coas Where ie work for about f1 a day.
Both the Guerrilla Army of the Poor Organisation of the People in Arms have large following among the Indians, who continue to be the victims of the most brutal army repression.
The Lucas Garcia government, in an attempt to give itself a facade 'democracv holding early next year.
Just as in El Salvador, the guerrilla organisations will be barred tron ticipating, and there w be large areas in the cour tryside in which the ele. tions will just not happe In any case, electoral frau is the stock in trade of th Guatemalan rightists.
As the civil war ap proaches the same propo tons as the struggle in E Salvador, the prospect opened up of a regiona revolutionary war. But th guerrill? movement Guatemala will be ver hard to destroy.
Their firm suppo: among the Indians th terrain and social base of the oligarch Hall U mean that prolonge struggle is inevitable For the United State the loss' of Guatemala ti revolutionary forces is un thinkable. Amenea military intervention would almost certainly embarked on to prevent it The fate of whole regior will almost certainly decided in the mountain and valleys of Guatemala
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50 years of military rule First public showing of new film