Which country experienced a CIA-backed coup in 1954 linked to banana interests? Guatemala experienced the CIA-backed coup in 1954 linked to banana interests.
The coup, known as the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état or Operation PBSuccess, overthrew President Jacobo Árbenz. Árbenz’s government had introduced agrarian reform, including the redistribution of unused land owned by the United Fruit Company, a powerful American corporation with extensive banana operations in Guatemala.
The United States portrayed Árbenz’s government as a communist threat during the Cold War. Economic concerns, United Fruit’s lobbying, and anti-communist policy all contributed to the intervention. The CIA supported a rebel force led by Carlos Castillo Armas through propaganda, psychological warfare, and covert assistance.
Árbenz resigned in June 1954 and went into exile. Castillo Armas became president, and Guatemala entered a long period of military-backed rule and political violence. The episode helped cement the historical association between “banana republic” politics, foreign corporate power, and Central America.