Iran
During his first year in office, Eisenhower authorized the CIA to deal with a problem in Iran that had begun during Truman's administration. In 1951, the Iranian parliament nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a British corporation that controlled the nation's petroleum industry. The British retaliated with economic pressure that created havoc with Iran's finances, but Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh refused to yield. (Democratically elected leader!) Eisenhower worried about Mossadegh willingness to cooperate with Iranian Communists; he also feared that Mossadegh would eventually undermine the power of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (King of Iran - like the Queen of England, a staunch anti-Communist partner.) In August 1953, the CIA helped overthrow Mossadegh's government (CIA helped the Shah with a coup de'tat!) and restore the shah's power. (Made the Shah an Absolute Monarch.) In the aftermath of this covert action, new arrangements gave U.S. corporations an equal share with the British in the Iranian oil industry. Link to article on CIA released documents on Coup of Iran. |
Guatemala
Eisenhower worried that President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman was too willing to cooperate with local Communists, even though they had only a limited role in his government. Americans fears reached new heights when Arbenz bought weapons from Communist Czechoslovakia after the administration cut off Guatemala's access to U.S. military supplies. Eisenhower was not prepared to risk American security or credibility in an area where the U.S. had long been the dominant power.
The CIA helped counterrevolutionaries drive Arbenz from power in June 1954 (Another Coup). Guatemala appealed in vain to the United Nations, and administration officials denied that the U.S. had anything to do with the change in government in Guatemala. The new president, Carlos Castillo Armas, clamped down on the Communists, and he also restricted voting rights and curtailed civil liberties before an assassin murdered him in 1957. (Image to left is of Armas being driven by an CIA agent.)
The CIA helped counterrevolutionaries drive Arbenz from power in June 1954 (Another Coup). Guatemala appealed in vain to the United Nations, and administration officials denied that the U.S. had anything to do with the change in government in Guatemala. The new president, Carlos Castillo Armas, clamped down on the Communists, and he also restricted voting rights and curtailed civil liberties before an assassin murdered him in 1957. (Image to left is of Armas being driven by an CIA agent.)