Caracas Conference (1954)

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Caracas Conference (1954)

The Tenth Inter-American Conference of the Organization of American States (OAS) met in Caracas, Venezuela, from 1 March to 28 March 1954. Although Latin American nations expected economic issues to be the main focus, the United States convinced the organizing committee to place an anticommunist resolution first on the agenda. The Eisenhower administration was worried about the influence of Communists in the elected government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán in Guatemala.

Latin Americans were not enthusiastic about this position because they were fearful of U.S. interference in their affairs. Many in the hemisphere were angry that the United States insisted on meeting in Caracas because Marcos Pérez Jiménez was head of state there. Costa Rica refused to attend because of him.

The vote on the anticommunist resolution was seventeen in favor, one against (Guatemala), and two abstentions (Mexico and Argentina). U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles added a statement to the resolution that said the design was to deal with dangers originating outside the hemisphere and not to impair the right of each state to freely choose its own form of government. Failing to obtain support against Arbenz, the United States joined Guatemalan rebels to overthrow him in June 1954.

See alsoArbenz Guzmán, Jacobo; Pérez Jiménez, Marcos.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Samuel Guy Inman, Inter-American Conferences, 1826–1954: History and Problems, edited by Harold E. Davis (1965), esp. chap. 19.

Richard H. Immerman, The CIA in Guatemala (1982).

Stephen G. Rabe, Eisenhower and Latin America (1988), esp. chap. 3.

Piero Gleijeses, Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944–1954 (1991), esp. chap. 12.

Additional Bibliography

Shaw, Carolyn M. Cooperation, Conflict, and Consensus in the Organization of American States. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Schmitz, David F. Thank God They're on Our Side: The United States and Right-wing Dictatorships, 1921–1965. Westport: Praeger, 2002.

Valdés-Ugalde, José Luis. Estados Unidos, intervención y poder mesiánico: La Guerra Fría en Guatemala, 1954. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas: Centro de Investigaciones sobre América del Norte, 2004.

                                         Charles Carreras