The CIA in Guatemala (Texas Pan American Series)

Rating:
Summary: Thorough research, but at times dense reading
Review: Immerman's "CIA in Guatemala" is a very-well researched book, evidencing a great breadth of scholarship and study, but is at times very turgid reading indeed. My greatest problem concerns the author's endless hammering at the idea that the Guatemalan intervention was much more than a protection of US economic interests; that, rather, the intervention was more importantly a result of the "cold war ethos" of the time that dominated US political thought. Immerman's chief illustrations of this concern a wealth of evidence displaying hysterical US officials' ranting about the "international communist conspiracy" in Guatemala. While these men would certainly have liked everyone to believe that this was more than just a protection of their country's economic hegemony in Latin America, I don't see how Immerman can take this idea seriously. He shows through his own research that the Soviet Union- which was the fundamental opposing partner of the "ethos"- had nothing to do with Guatemala's revolutionary government at any time outside of sympathy, and that the Soviet Union's foreign policy was always a very conservative one, and always very fearful of the United States. The book would have been shortened of at least a few needless pages and clarified extensively if Immerman would have (1) dropped the idea that men like Dulles and Eisenhower were stupid enough to believe the "anti-Communist" propoganda they spouted at this time, and (2) recognized that perhaps the cold war ethos he discusses was all about preserving US economic dominance and concerned the Soviet Union only as a propoganda element, at least in Guatemala. Besides what I saw as a somewhat unclear argument to bolster the main idea that the intervention was an essential event in Cold War history, the book is undeniably well-researched and presents the Guatemalan intervention in excellent detail. The author's final chapter is especially interesting in linking the broad problems of Latin American reformist leaders demonstrated by Guatemala to the Cuban revolution and its aspirations. Overall, for its subject the book is certainly a must.

Rating:
Summary: The harsh reality of American Policy of Intervention
Review: The CIA in Guatemala offers the reader a compeling and shocking truth regarding the involevement of the American government in third-world country. Immerman relates in detail how the CIA and United Fruit magnates paint the guatemalan flag red and declare the country communist because they misinterpreted Agrarian Reform as a direct threat to "National Security." Boldly told, the reader finds himself amist a sea of revelations and a little confusion as the story unfolds, but it is only natural for a book of this nature. Immeran has done a wonderful job explaining foreign and political intervention about the american titan otherwise know as the "Gobierno Gringo." A marvelous account of past events are exposed after years of being witheld by the CIA as classified documents. I invoke anybody with an interest in politics, governmet intervention or just to inderstand how foreign interests dictate a small nation by placing puppet presidents to do their bidding to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: a fact-filled disappointment
Review: This is a useful book. It is very well researched, extraordinarily documented and tells you essentially anything you need to know about the CIA's plot to overthrow the Arbenz government in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the writing is so turgid and dull it's difficult not to nod off in the middle of a particularly gritty section of history. I applaud Immerman's effort and the completeness of his overall work, but he really should have taken on a jounrnalist to help him get through the rough spots and make the book actually readable.

Rating:
Summary: a fact-filled disappointment
Review: This is a useful book. It is very well researched, extraordinarily documented and tells you essentially anything you need to know about the CIA's plot to overthrow the Arbenz government in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the writing is so turgid and dull it's difficult not to nod off in the middle of a particularly gritty section of history. I applaud Immerman's effort and the completeness of his overall work, but he really should have taken on a jounrnalist to help him get through the rough spots and make the book actually readable.