Premium Episode 140 - United Fruit Company, Blood Bananas and the Guatemalan Genocide pt. 7: PBSUCCESS, and the Spirit of the Beehive

Programmed to Chill

[originally published on Patreon March 14, 2024]

I open by discussing Operation SHERWOOD, the CIA's covert attempt to support Castillo Armas' invasion, run by Tracy Barnes and David Atlee Phillips, intentionally modeled after Orson Welles' infamous 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast.

From there, I discuss the invasion proper, the Guatemalan government's diplomatic and military responses, and the chances of success without US air support. I go through the various causes of Arbenz's sudden resignation and attempt to weigh the pros and cons of continued resistance. I also attempt to evaluate the US national security state's evaluation of these events, especially through the lens of the Bay of Pigs invasion which would include so many of the same actors.

I cover what types of teams the CIA sent in after the coup and what they left in their wake, including plans for the creation of death squads, hit lists, and an overview of methods and training of said assassins, which included the infamous CIA manual on assassinations. I discuss Armas' initial actions, both punitive and compensatory, including paying back various Americans who assisted him. Then returned the US mafiosi, one of whom may have actually killed Armas in 1957.

I lay out what happened to most participants in the 1954 coup, and then tell the story of a plucky Argentine doctor caught up in the madness of Guatemalan history. Songs: Hit Mane by Maxo Kream Luces y Sombras by Alberto Iglesias Piano Theme by Michael Gordon Fusil Contra Fusil by Silvio Rodriguez