National Committee of Defense Against Communism

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The National Committee of Defense Against Communism, established on 19 July 1954, was a committee formed by Carlos Castillo Armas at the request of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The Committee's primary goal was to fight real and perceived threats to the government of Guatemala by named Communist subversives.

1 Background
2 The National Committee
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Background

Carlos Armas was a anti-liberal, anti-communist Guatemalan army officer that helped overthrow the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico in 1944. As the October Revolution of 1944 continued, he became angry with the regime of Juan José Arévalo after the assassination of Colonel Jacobo Arana, someone that Armas respected highly. In November 1950, Armas attempted to overthrow the Guatemalan government with seventy of his followers. The coup failed, several of his soldiers were killed, and Armas himself was shot and captured. However, he managed to escape in 1952 and fled to Honduras.

In August 1953, Armas became the "Liberator" of Guatemala, being supported by the United States and CIA, with the intent of liberating Guatemala of its supposed Communist government. With that backing, Armas successfully completed a coup (PBSUCCESS) against the government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán and on, 1 September 1954, he was officially declared president of Guatemala.

[edit] The National Committee

On July 19, 1954, Armas formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism upon the recommendation of the CIA. This was coupled with the Preventive Penal Law Against Communism. Its primary goal was to root out threats to Armas' government by Communist ideologues and supporters. The Committee was given the power to convene in secret, as well as the power to arrest and detain, for up to six months, any persons declared by the Committee to be communist. Those declared communist by the Committee had no right to any kind of defense or appeal if they were charged of a crime under the Preventive Penal Law; they could not own shortwave radios or hold any kind of public office, local or national.

By 21 November 1954, the Armas government and the National Committee had compiled list of 72,000 persons determined to be "communists."