Bitter Fruit

Bitter Fruit is a comprehensive and insightful account of the CIA operation to overthrow the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954 First published in 1982, this book has become a classic, a textbook case of the relationship between the United States and the Third World The authors make extensive use of U.S government documents and interviews with former CIA and other officials It is a warning of what happens when the United States abuses its power. Read Bitter Fruit – kino-fada.fr I learned that part of the reason we have a so called immigration problem is due to the good old greed of American capitalism We get involved in Latin America and train people for coups and put in dictators in order to keep the status quo and then people wonder why people flock to the States from La...I ordered this book because I had to give a conference in Guatemala and was confused about the beginning of the country s long armed conflict I figured this was a good place to start, and it was It helped me understand better not only the American role in Guatemala, but also a lot of the current attitudes and opinions in Latin America about work, big international companies and America.Unlike some reviewers, I don t find it biased at all, in fact I read it without much knowledge of the conflic I ordered this book because I had to give a conference in Guatemala and was confused about the beginning of the country s long armed conflict I figured this was a good place to start, and it was It helped me understand better not only the American role in Guatemala, but also a lot of the current attitudes and opinions in Latin America about work, big international companies and America.Unlike some reviewers, I don t find it biased at all, in fact I read it without much knowledge of the conflict and understood clearly both sides of it This isn t a story about good innocent guys suffering from the hands of bad gringos, it s a story about wrong incentives both among Guatemalans and owners of the United Fruit Company.I currently work in a Mexican company started by one of the 150,000 Guatemalan immigrants of the 80s I had never given much thought on this before, but now I can even relate bett...This, like Kinzer s All the Shah s Men, is a very readable history designed for the non specialist Unlike some histories, the authors do not conceal their disdain for those Washington policy makers, most particularly the Dulles brothers, who destroyed the fledgling Guatemalan democracy s attempts at moderate social reform and consigned the country to decades of civil war Sadly, this is but a case study of the typically short sighted and self interested motives which inspire much of the foreign This, like Kinzer s All the Shah s Men, is a very readable history designed for the non specialist Unlike some histories, the authors do not conceal their disdain for those Washington policy makers, most particularly the Dulles brothers, who destroyed the fledgling Guatemalan democracy s attempts at moderate social reform and consigned the country to decades of civil war Sadly, this is but a case study of the...Bitter Fruit relates the history of the 1954 CIA directed coup against Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Together with the 1953 putsch against Iranian President Mohammed Mossadegh, that gave the CIA two successful knock outs against democratically elected governments in two years Both incidents are notable for the hubris and hypocrisy on the part of the US, as well as the pyrrhic nature of their victories Kinzer s book on Nicaragua in the 1980s, Blood o...Bitter Fruit The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, is an account on the US orchestrated plot to overthrow the democratically elected government of Guatemala and replace it with a pliant dictator, in order to prop up a fruit company As ridiculous as that sounds, it happened Stephen Kinzer takes a journalistic approach to this story, mixing hard bitten backroom dealing in both Washington and Guatemala City with history and corporate affairs Dulles and Eisenhower are two of the Am Bitter Fruit The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, is an account on the US orchestrated plot to overthrow the democratically elected government of Guatemala and replace it with a pliant dictator, in order to prop up a fruit company As ridiculous as that sounds, it happened Stephen Kinzer takes a journalistic approach to this story, mixing hard bitten backroom dealing in both Washington and Guatemala City wit...A great, well written history of the overthrow of the Arbenz government The authors tell the story of the coup in a balanced, restrained tone and let the facts tell their own story The style itself is fast paced while not oversimplifying things.The authors do a great job putting the story of the coup in its historical context, and how unfounded US fears of communist influence in ...Believe it or not, Chiquita Banana then United Fruit really did orchestrate the overthrow of the government in Guatemala Yay for imposing dictatorships in foreign nations that are friendly to US corporate interestsBook that introduced me to Central American history and politics Reads like a John le Carre thriller and will get your blood boiling Que viva ArbenzVery good book How did Dulles get an airport named after himThe most disturbing book I have ever read, for how much it reveals on American corruption A necessary read for any American interested in Latin America.

Bitter Fruit
  • English
  • 02 August 2018
  • Paperback
  • 330 pages
  • 067401930X
  • Stephen C. Schlesinger
  • Bitter Fruit