opment in Latin America but was unwilling to make a specific commitment for assistance. As a region Latin America ranked low on the U.S. priority list; other area were seen as facing more immediate Soviet threats. The lack of attention by the U.S. to the pressing social. political and economic problems in Latin America would prove costly to the U.S. The cost would come in the form of new political views emerging to deal with the problems at hand. The U.S. would come to pay attention to Latin America, that it was supposed to at the beginning of the cold war, and take action to stop the spread of communism. One of the first situations faced by the U.S. was Guatemala, lead by the soldier, and president of Guatemala, Jacobo (1951-54) whose nationalistic economic and social reforms singled out groups of conservative landowners, and conservative elements in the army, and U.S. companies stationed in Guatemala. The son of a Swiss pharmacist who had emigrated to Guatemala, Arbenz was educated at the National Military Academy of Guatemala. He later joined a group of leftist army officers that overthrew the Guatemalan dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944. In March 1951 he succeeded to the presidency, supported by the army and the left-wing political parties, including the Guatemalan Communist Party. Arbenz made land reform the central project of his presidency, this led to a conflict with the largest landowner in the country, the United Fruit Company. As the land reforms increased, the U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, became increasingly alarmed, fearing the threat due to a large American banana investments. Public view of Arbenz, was that he was a friend of communists. The U.S., during the Eisenhower administration, began working in Honduras and El Salvador, helping to organize a counterrevolutionary army of exiles led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. On June 18,1954 a force of 150 invaded Guatemala from Honduras, the key to the invasion was not the exile force, but the re

Some topics in this essay:
Latin America, Latin American, Bay Pigs, Castro Sandanistas, Robert McFarlane, Cuba United, Guatemala Honduras, John Kennedy, Guatemala Jacobo, War II, latin america, latin american, cold war, war ii, world war ii, world war, latin american leaders, security council, economic social, soviet union, american countries, economic development, latin american countries,