Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes

His Excellency
General of Division
Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes
President of the Republic of Guatemala
In office
March 2, 1958 – March 31, 1963
Preceded by Guillermo Flores Avendaño
Succeeded by Enrique Peralta Azurdia
Personal details
Born 17 October 1895
Retalhuleu, Guatemala
Died 27 October 1982 (1982-10-28) (aged 87)
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Spouse(s) Maria Teresa Laparra (1901-1988)

General José Miguel Ramón Ydígoras Fuentes (17 October 1895, Retalhuleu – 27 October 1982, Guatemala City) was the conservative[1] President of Guatemala from 1958 to March 1963.[2] He was also the main challenger to Jacobo Árbenz during the 1950 presidential election.[2]

In the government of dictator Jorge Ubico, Ydígoras served as a Colonel in the army, and also as the governor of the province of San Marcos.[3] During the government of Juan Jose Arevalo, Ydígoras had been linked to several of the 25 attempted coups during 1945-51.[4] In the 1950 Guatemalan presidential election, Ydígoras was the main opponent of Árbenz.[5] The elections were broadly free and fair with the exception of the disenfranchisement of illiterate female voters.[6] Although Ydígoras had the support of the landowners, he lacked popular support, and did not have the backing of major political parties the way Árbenz did. Árbenz eventually won the election with 258,987 votes to 72,796 for Ydígoras, out of a total of 404,739.[6]

The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) considered Ydígoras as a candidate to lead the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, because he had support among the Guatemalan opposition.[7] However, he was rejected for his role Jorge Ubico regime, as well as his European visage, which was unlikely to appeal to the majority mixed-race mestizo population. Carlos Castillo Armas was chosen instead.[7] Ydígoras later claimed that in 1953, he had been introduced to two CIA agents by Walter Turnbull, an official of the United Fruit Company, and been offered support to overthrow Árbenz. Ydígoras claimed to have refused their terms, which included favoring the United Fruit Company, abolishing the railway worker's union, and establishing a dictatorship similar to that of Ubico.[2] Ydígoras later agreed to help Castillo Armas in his own coup attempt, a fact which came to the attention of the Árbenz government before it fell.[8]

Carlos Castillo Armas was assassinated in 1957, and elections were held immediately afterwards by a military junta.[9] These elections were so fraudulent that popular outcry forced a fresh ballot.[9] Another election was held in 1958, in which Ydígoras was elected.[9] His administration saw continual corruption scandals.[9] There was significant social turmoil following his election, and demonstrations and protests against the government and against electoral fraud were common during his administration.[10] These protests eventually grew into the Guerilla group MR-13.[10]

In July 1958 a senior CIA Chief described Ydígoras as, "known to be a moody, almost schizophrenic individual" who "regularly disregards the advice of his Cabinet and other close associates".[11] The beginning of the leftist insurgency led to Ydígoras being accused of being "soft on communism" by other figures within the army.[1] Several coups were attempted against him in the early 1960s, but they all failed.[1] In 1963, Ydigoras's defense minister Colonel Enrique Peralta Azurdia eventually toppled Ydigoras. Azurdia claimed that the entire government had been infiltrated by communists, abrogated the constitution, and took over as the head of state.[1] Azurdia's coup had the backing of several opposition parties, who wished to end the possibility that former left-of-center civilian president Juan José Arévalo would return to Guatemala and run as a candidate in the upcoming elections.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 May 1999, pp. 72-73.
  2. 1 2 3 Gordon 1971, p. 131.
  3. ↑ Forster 2001, p. 167.
  4. ↑ Grandin 2000, p. 206.
  5. ↑ Gleijeses 1991, pp. 73-84.
  6. 1 2 Gleijeses 1991, pp. 73–84.
  7. 1 2 Immerman 1982, pp. 141–142.
  8. ↑ Gordon 1971, p. 143.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Gordon 1971, p. 152.
  10. 1 2 May 1999, pp. 70-71.
  11. ↑ King, J. C. (25 July 1958), Subject: S. S. Springfjord, Memorandum for: Office of the General Council, Central Intelligence Agency, p. 1 The two-page memorandum is stamped: "CIA Historical Review Program, Release as Sanitized, 2003"
  12. ↑ Corstange, Daniel M. "Guatemala: The Party System from 1963 to 2000". In Janda, Kenneth. Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey. New York: The Free Press. p. not cited. ISBN 0029161207.

Sources

  • Forster, Cindy (2001). The time of freedom: campesino workers in Guatemala's October Revolution. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-4162-0. 
  • Gleijeses, Piero (1991). Shattered hope: the Guatemalan revolution and the United States, 1944–1954. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02556-8. 
  • Gordon, Max (Summer 1971). "A Case History of U. S. Subversion: Guatemala, 1954". Science and Society. 35 (2). JSTOR 40401561. 
  • Grandin, Greg (2000). The blood of Guatemala: a history of race and nation. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-2495-9. 
  • Immerman, Richard H. (1982). The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71083-2. 
  • May, Rachel (March 1999). ""Surviving All Changes is Your Destiny": Violence and Popular Movements in Guatemala". Latin American Perspectives. 26 (2): 68–91. doi:10.1177/0094582x9902600204. 
Government offices
Preceded by
Guillermo Flores		 President of Guatemala
1958–1963 		Succeeded by
Enrique Peralta
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