Customer Reviews

Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, Revised and Expanded (David Rockefeller Center Series on Latin American Studies, H)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Schlesinger's and Kinzer's classic study examines one of the more disgraceful chapters in the history of American foreign policy: the CIA-sponsored overthrow in 1954 of the democratically elected government of Guatemala. The long-term repercussions of this unprovoked excursion are still felt today; many Latin American countries still do not trust United States intentions because of our actions in both Guatemala and, two decades later, Chile.

"Bitter Fruit" explodes some cherished myths that apologists for the coup have proffered over the years. First, it's clear that Roosevelt rather than Stalin provided the inspiration to the presidencies of Juan Jose Arevalo (1945-1951) and Jacobo Arbenz Guzman (1951-1954). Both Arevalo and Arbenz were motivated by the policies and practices of the New Deal; their support for labor and their actions towards American businesses must be viewed in this light and were never any worse than the laws passed during the Depression in the United States. Regardless of whatever tolerance Guatemalan Communists may have enjoyed, or influence they may have had--and it's clear that they didn't have much--the Eisenhower administration was motivated as much by scorn of the Roosevelt and Truman years as by anti-Communism. (Tellingly, those who cite Che Guevera's presence in Guatemala often fail to note that his arrival, at the age of 25 in early 1954, postdated the planning of American intervention and predated by many years Guevera's notoriety.)

Second, the succession of American puppets who succeeded Arbenz were certainly not supported by the people of Guatemala: the ragtag opposition "army" never exceeded 400 troops in number, and none of the dictators during the next four decades could have survived a freely held election. Between 1954 and the early 1990s, tens of thousands of civilians were imprisoned, executed, or "disappeared" at the fleeting whims of a series of brutal tyrants--and this, to most Central Americans, is the "bottom line" legacy of American interference. Third, some defend American intervention because the Guatemalan land reforms in the early 1950s "stole" property from the United Fruit Company. What the supporters of the company's property rights rarely acknowledge is that one of the company's early founders, Samuel Zemurray, acquired its land, as well as a railroad monopoly, by organizing from New Orleans a coup in 1905 that overthrew the existing government and installing UFC's own puppet--all in violation of American law. In addition, when the Arbenz government attempted to compensate UFC for the land (all of it fallow), the company admitted that it had fraudulently undervalued their holdings for tax purposes at $627,000; the land was worth closer to $16 million.

And, finally, what is clear from Schlesinger's and Kinzer's account is that the Americans behind the 1954 coup, from Ambassador John Peurifoy to the Dulles brothers to Eisenhower himself, knew that what they were doing was indefensible. In order to "sell" the coup at all they had to invent a propagandistic war against a democratically elected government to a gullible American media. Not surprisingly, they covered up and denied American involvement not only at the time but during the ensuing years. Furthermore, many of the participants who survived into the late 1970s either confessed their regret to the authors of this book or admitted that the horrific long-term consequences of the coup in no way justified its short-term "success."

The American adventure in Guatemala was fostered by bad intelligence, furthered by greedy intentions, and executed with no coherent strategy, and it dealt a serious blow both to democracy and to the immediate and long-term interests of the United States government. Meticulously documented, this blood-boiling yet even-handed study should be read by all who are concerned by the consequences of ill-conceived, unilaterally executed, and short-sighted foreign policy planning.

Whether you're a connoiseur with a PhD in international relations, a high-school dropout looking to enhance their missing education, or someone who just wants to read an engrossing book with a little intellectual flare to it, one can be both entertained and appalled by the story contained in "Bitter Fruit".
Kinzer and Schlesinger's writing is impeccable, and somehow manages to stay apolitical. The authors do an excellent job of not flaunting the miscues of the American overthrow of Guatemala's democratically elected government, but merely let the facts from all angles tell their own story. In addition, the writing is quite fast-paced in style but pays attentive detail to fact and exhautively denotes the sources behind the writing. I purchased this for reading as part of a class assignment - and then cited it in two places in my senior essay!
So instead of buying a FICTIONAL thriller or adventure or spy novel for your downtime reading, why not pick up a book where the plot . . . actually happened?! In addition, despite being originally published a quarter century ago, the book is amazingly relevant to issues in today's foreign policy (*cough* Iraq *cough*). Also, I HIGHLY recommend for history buffs like myself - but this book can be enjoyed by anyone. Well, "enjoyed" isn't really the word - after reading this book, I felt a sense of anger towards our government for their selfish actions 50 years ago, and a sense of pity toward the people of Guatemala, who had no idea what hit them. But the feelings weren't on the level as to wish that I had never read the book - on the contrary, it made me feel more enlightened both about the Cold War era as well as today's international climate.

America has staged many coup's throughout the years but this one will always hold a special place in history. Feeling good from our overthrow of the Mosaddegh and our installation of the Shah; we attempted to put our own government in Guatemala and entered a botched attempt that would lead to disaster. America's involvement in Latin America has always been tenuous with the natives but this account really shows why they fear and hate us at times. It is very well written and covers the information clearly. Highly recommend.

Schlesinger and Kinzer did indeed write a classic. The book is well-written and very readable. While it is certainly an academic work and may be considered a textbook, it is not as dry as such the connotation suggests. On the contrary, the story at times feels like a best-selling espionage novel or a Hollywood conspiracy-theory movie, but much better in my opinion.

More importantly, Bitter Fruit is supported by excellent sources - many Freedom of Information Act documents and also many memoirs and interviews of people involved in the events. This is comforting and assures that while the book is almost written in the style of a fictional thriller, the authors did not take any liberties of rewriting or embellishing history to make the book more fun to read.

Schlesinger and Kinzer also do an excellent job of providing the background of the parties involved and the historical context in which the revolution and coup took place. They also wrap up the book well in their 'Aftermath' final chapter and provide much needed closure to the story, in which they discuss the fates of the major players since the coup.


Highest recommendations.

To be honest, I would never have made it through this book if it had not been required for my class but I am glad that I did. The history of the coup and how it has played out and affected Guatemala to this day is a horrific example of American history, but one that should be common knowledge to the American public in order to keep a closer eye on our international affairs.

The authors did a great job of narrating the history in way that reads more like a story than a history book, though at times it can be a bit hard to read through (though that could be my own weakness in reading) with many different people involved. However, the intro giving a brief overview of the history of the coup helps give the reader an overview and the afterword is much appreciated.

The five stars I'm giving this book is in part due to the authors' ability to make the book an interesting read on history, but mostly because this is a book and a history that people should know.

I haven't even read this book yet. I am buying it because of the negative review by Another Pigeon. Anything that can stir up that "anti commie" hate that he expresses in his review needs to be read. Of course he might also hold it against those Native Americans that had their land ripped away from them because our government felt they had no use for it. He also might be of the mind set that the overthrowing of the democratic government in Iran by the US was also a righteous cause since those stinking commies were knocking on the door there too. So seeing how negative he was in his review, I just know that I need to read this. Besides, from what I understand from other sources, we did violate the law in Guatemala.

A really bad chapter in American and Guatemalan history. This book tells the story of how one American company lobbied the United States government into overthrowing a sovereign government. The nationalist movement in Guatemala was turned into a communist pariah.

This book is so refreshing in regards to the American Government and our meddling within all countries south of our border. If you want to understand why there is a small tinge of distaste in the mouths of those who's country we have invaded, this book will open your eyes.

I think that "Bitter Fruit", by Stephen C. Schlesinger, is a very serious and competent work in the rich field of Latin American History studies made by north-american authors. The short but wise essays by Coatsworth, Schlesinger himself, Kinzer, Nuccio, and Erlick, which have been added to the 2005 edition, help the nowadays reader to put the book in perspective and to improve its understanding.

A very well researched and well written book on the tragedy the US Government help to initiate in Guatemala by overthrowing one of the first democratically elected presidents in Guatemalan history. Should be required reading in all US school -- not for the purpose of training our citizens to be "ashamed of their country", but for the purpose of preventing such tragedies from happening in the future.

Related notes: No connections between Arbenz and any communist government have ever been discovered. Arbenz did not in point of fact propose "stealing" the unused land from United Fruit -- the actual proposal was to compensate United Fruit at the valuation which THEY claimed for tax purposes. BOTH the US and Guatemalan governments have issued related apologies (oops, sorry we mascaraed your entire family and village for no good reason...while you were forced to watch). No meaningful compensation has even been made by either government to the hundreds of thousands killed, "disappeared", or displaced in the resulting civil war. Posters of the "disappeared" still line the walls of some streets in Guatemala City.

Yes, the threat of communism was real on a world-scale, but our misguided over zealousness in the case of Guatemala visited a massive human tragedy on a wonderful people.

Also see: Silence On The Mountain by Daniel Wilkinson. Mr. Wilkinson's book picks up where Bitter Fruit ends. The two in combination give a powerful overview of a brutal era in Guatemalan history. Also see the related Truth Commission reports (be forewarned: these make very disturbing reading...and the accuracy of these reports are verified by both sides in the conflict).

I live in Guatemala. I see the tragic end result of this fiasco every day.