How long was the Agrarian Reform period?
Ten years. There was a 10-year period of democratic rule that began in 1944 when the dictator was overthrown. Then there was an election in 1950 and that man, President Arbenz, carried out the Agrarian Reform in 1952. It was really the culmination of 10 years of democratic reform. Just to make this clear: Were there communists involved in this reform? What was America so afraid of? There were communists involved and that’s what the U.S. government was afraid of. There was a communist party that was pretty small — about 5,000 members — but very influential with President Arbenz. The president wasn’t a member of the party but some of his closest advisors were and they played a role in designing this agrarian reform. Oct 16, 2002 | Can you explain what the reform did? Basically, it was dealing with extreme inequality in terms of property. It was creating a labor market. Before, there was a semi-feudal relationship where the owners of the plantations owned the homes that the workers live
