Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Feb 2, 1838
Much of southwestern Guatemala declares independence, becoming the sixth member of the United
Provinces. The new state, called Los Altos, has its capital at Quetzaltenango. It will secede, briefly, in
1844, 1848 and 1849.
1840
Rafael Carrera seizes power and declares Guatemala fully independent and reincorporates Los Altos
into Guatemala. He sets about dismantling many of the liberal reforms of the United Provinces.
1870s
Liberal governments modernize Guatemala but turn indigenous lands over to coffee plantations.
European newcomers are given preferential treatment, further disenfranchising the Maya.
1901
President Manuel Estrada Cabrera courts the US-owned United Fruit Company to set up shop in
Guatemala. United Fruit soon takes on a dominant role in national politics.
1940s
Bowing to pressure from the US (buyers of 90% of Guatemala's exports at the time), President Jorge
Ubico expels German landowners from the country. Their lands are redistributed to political and mil-
itary allies.
1945-54
Juan José Arévalo, elected with 85% of the popular vote, comes to power, ushering in an era of en-
lightened, progressive government that is continued by his successor Jacobo Arbenz.
1954
Effecting the country's first serious attempt at land reform, Arbenz appropriates Guatemalan lands of
the US-owned United Fruit Company. He is soon deposed in a US-orchestrated coup.
1950s-1960s
Military dictators rule the country, reversing liberal reforms of previous governments. Crackdowns
lead to the formation of left-wing guerrilla groups. The civil war begins.
1967
Guatemalan writer and diplomat Miguel Ángel Asturias, credited as a pioneer of modernist Latin
American literature, is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his political novel
El Señor Presidente
.
