The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

110 would take land away from the large United Fruit Company. They accused the government which “might best be described as a liberal reform movement” of having communist tendencies; therefore, America got involved (Latin America: Its Problems and its Promise 251). With help from the CIA, the opposition overthrew Árbenez, so the country needed a new president. The United States tried to control the election outcomes in order to determine the type of government in Guatemala. American representatives helped initiate a “republic based on a constitutional democracy” (“Guatemala Information”). Shortly after the war, this government failed in many democratic ways such as not allowing the vast population of illiterate people to vote. The people do not have all the freedoms contained in what Americans view as a true democracy. America’s obsession with forming a democracy in Guatemala was one large factor in starting the civil war. If the Guatemalan army did not have the support from America, the war may have never started. The original opposition of Árbenez asked the CIA to help because they knew the task would be too difficult for them to accomplish on their own. Had the war never started, the Mayan people would not have suffered. The United States government provided aid at the start of the war that began the brutal conflict lasting 36 years, so they have the responsibility to continue to provide assistance in Guatemala until the damage from the war is reversed. Not only did they help start the war, but also the United States aided the Guatemalan armed forces throughout the recent civil war. The United States was involved in many external wars, and according to historical authors and professors of political science, Booth, Wade, and Walker, “This outside manipulation of Central American politics… intensified and prolonged their conflicts” (Booth 2). This was definitely true in Guatemala where the United States government was economically involved throughout the war. America provided funding for the official Guatemalan military to fight the so-called communists: “From 1946 through 1992 the United States provided US$1.8 billion in military assistance to the region [of Latin America] 98 percent of it to Guatemala” (Booth 26). Without this funding, the Guatemalan army would not have had the resources that it used during the war. This is more money (in current US dollars) than the United States spent on the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and Spanish