In 1952, the democratically elected guatemalan president Jacobo Ãrbenz decided to expropriate unused arable land from the company United Fruit in order to try to improve quality of life for the people, as united fruit owned 42% of the land in Guatemala, as well as most of the infrastructure, but exploited the workers and effectively ruled the country. He decided to compensate United fruit what the land was worth for tax purposes: $1,185,000. Instead, United Fruit demanded $16,000,000. When Ãrbenz refused, United Fruit complained to the US government, who responded by underwriting a coup, and installed Carlos Castillo as dictator. The CIA helped him by giving him a list of seventy "questionable Individuals" most of whom were never seen again.
Evidently, democracy is a privilege best reserved for Americans.
