Beginning of 1954 Guatemalan Coup

Date: June 18, 1954 • Location: Cabin John, United States

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1954.

Carlos Castillo Armas led a CIA-sponsored invasion force across the Guatemalan border, beginning the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état.

Carlos Castillo Armas was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who was the 28th president of Guatemala, serving from 1954 to 1957 after taking power in a coup d'état. A member of the far-right National Liberation Movement (MLN) party, his authoritarian government was closely allied with the United States.