When people in the United States ask why some countries in Central America and South America struggle with poverty, corruption, migration pressures or unstable governments, the answers often focus on local politics alone.
But historians say a major part of the story is rarely taught in American classrooms: decades of foreign intervention, including covert operations by the United States during the Cold War.
One of the clearest examples is the 1954 CIA operation that overthrew Guatemala’s democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz.
Known as Operation PBSUCCESS, the mission replaced a reform-minded government with one more aligned with U.S. strategic and business interests. While portrayed publicly at the time as a necessary move to stop communism, later investigations — including the U.S. Senate’s Church Committee in the 1970s — revealed extensive covert involvement by the CIA in planning and executing the coup.
For many historians, that event helps explain not only Guatemala’s later instability, but broader political dynamics across Latin America.
A Pattern Americans Rarely Learn
Árbenz’s government had pursued land reform policies that threatened the United Fruit Company, a powerful U.S.-based corporation with extensive holdings in Guatemala. U.S. officials also feared Soviet influence in the Western Hemisphere during the early Cold War.
The CIA campaign combined propaganda, economic pressure, diplomatic isolation and support for a rebel force. Árbenz ultimately resigned, and Guatemala entered decades of authoritarian rule, violence and civil war that killed more than 200,000 people.
For people living in the region, the message was clear: governments that challenged U.S. economic or geopolitical interests could be removed.
That perception still shapes political attitudes today.
In some cases, leaders installed or supported during Cold War conflicts proved corrupt or repressive, which in turn fueled revolutions, counter-coups or long-term instability. In others, weak governments created openings for authoritarian figures or criminal organizations.
Understanding that history helps explain why many countries in the region face challenges today — and why distrust of U.S. policy remains widespread.
Why Cuba Took a Hard Line
The Guatemala coup also had a direct influence on Cuba.
Ernesto “Che” Guevara was living in Guatemala during the 1954 events and witnessed the collapse of Árbenz’s government firsthand. Historians widely agree that experience shaped his views and later influenced Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution succeeded in 1959.
Castro frequently declared, “Cuba is not Guatemala,” meaning his government would not allow the same vulnerabilities.
Cuba’s response included:
Eliminating political factions that could be exploited by foreign intelligence operations Building a large, loyal military and militia Aligning with the Soviet Union to reduce economic dependence on the United States
Those policies help explain why Cuba adopted such a rigid political system and why U.S. efforts to overthrow Castro — including the Bay of Pigs invasion — ultimately failed.
From Cuba’s perspective, the hard line was defensive.
The Church Committee and What Came Out Later
Many Americans did not fully understand the extent of U.S. covert operations abroad until the 1970s, when the Senate’s Church Committee investigated intelligence agencies.
The inquiry exposed assassination plots, regime-change operations and covert political interference across multiple countries, confirming suspicions that had long existed in Latin America.
For people in the region, the revelations were not shocking — they were validation.
Why This Matters Now
Migration from Central America, political instability in parts of South America and ongoing distrust between governments in the hemisphere cannot be understood without this history.
None of this means local leaders bear no responsibility for corruption or poor governance. But it does mean the story is more complicated than often presented.
In many cases, outside intervention helped create conditions that later produced instability — or empowered leaders whose actions triggered further turmoil.
Academic Background
This analysis draws in part on research conducted during university coursework on Latin American history and U.S. foreign policy, using scholarship from historians including Stephen Rabe, Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer.
A History Worth Understanding
For readers trying to understand why countries near the United States sometimes struggle politically or economically — or why Cuba still takes a confrontational stance toward Washington — events like Operation PBSUCCESS offer important context.
It is history that many Americans were never taught, but one that continues to influence the present.
