ADKO

guat

3 min read

Here’s a summary of the text with the requested annotations:

The article critiques a Narratively.com article about the CIA overthrow of Guatemala in the 1950s. The author, Miles Mathis, argues that while the Narratively.com article provides a decent overview of the events, it attempts to spin the narrative by comparing it to Russian interference in the 2016 US election and downplaying Che Guevara and Castro. Mathis believes the Narratively.com article backfires by revealing too much truth about the CIA’s manipulation of events, confirming his long-held belief that intelligence agencies create and maintain elaborate “stageplays” and fictions. He likens this to Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast, suggesting that the CIA’s methods, initially through radio and pamphlets, have evolved with modern media (24/7 TV, Hollywood, internet) to influence global narratives, citing the Covid and BLM narratives as recent examples.

Mathis posits that the information about the Guatemala overthrow is not new, having been exposed by private researchers and now acknowledged on platforms like Wikipedia. He suspects the Narratively.com authors may be from a competing intelligence agency, like the DHS, who have no issue with exposing past CIA actions.

A key point for Mathis is the true identity of the deposed Guatemalan President, Jacopo Arbenz Guzman. He states Arbenz’s father was Jakob Grobli, a Swiss pharmacist, and his mother was from the wealthy Guzman family, whom Mathis identifies as Marranos (wealthy Jews of Spanish extraction, originally Gussmann). This ancestry, Mathis suggests, indicates Arbenz was “installed to fail” and was complicit in his own downfall. Further evidence cited includes Arbenz’s training at the Escuela Politecnica, run by Colonel John Considine, a US intelligence officer, and his marriage to Maria Vilanova, also from a wealthy Jewish family.

Mathis questions the narrative of the October Revolution of 1944, suggesting it was a manufactured event orchestrated by the US through the military academy. He also disputes the claim that Arbenz clashed with the United Fruit Company (UFC), arguing that the land reforms were minimal and that the UFC likely profited by selling off less valuable land, having been paid double its purchase price. He points out that Operation PBFortune to overthrow Guatemala was authorized by Truman in 1952, before Arbenz’s reforms could have caused significant harm to the UFC, indicating a pre-planned coup. The author believes Arbenz was installed as a lesson to the region, demonstrating the futility of revolution and self-governance.

Mathis dismisses the idea that a small group of CIA “radio actors” could easily hijack Guatemala’s media, arguing that Arbenz would have controlled local media. He also highlights that atrocity photos allegedly linked to Arbenz were faked or misattributed, citing Thomas McCann of United Fruit’s admission in his memoir that photos were borrowed. Finally, Mathis notes Arbenz’s later rehabilitation and reparations from the OAS, including highways, museums, and postage stamps, as proof he was a CIA agent who was later rebranded as a hero.

Annotated List of Subjects, Names, References, Locations, Companies, etc.:

Graph View