32nd President of Guatemala. He served from March 2, 1958 to March 31, 1963. Prior to becoming president, he enjoyed a career in the military attaining the rank of general. He was assigned as a diplomat to the Guatemalan embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1918 and to the Paris embassy in 1919. He then held various posts at the military academy before becoming governor of the province of San Marcos in 1922. In 1939 he was appointed director of Roads. In 1944 he was named ambassador to Great Britain, where he became impressed by British parliamentary democracy. He then organized his political party and ran for president. He lost and was exiled to El Salvador. There, he helped the United States CIA organize the successful overthrow of the incumbent president. After the assassination of President Carlos Castillo Armas in 1957, he ran again and became president. He is best remembered for his domestic support of the creation of the Central American Common Market and pushed through an industrial incentives law. He supported laws protecting foreign investments, agricultural reforms, and an income tax. He also promoted a number of personal liberties for the citizenry. In international affairs he is remembered for providing a base for the United States for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Facing backlash from the military, he was overthrown on March 30, 1963 in a coup led by his defense minister, General Enrique Peralta Azurdia. He lived in exile in several Central American countries until the early 1970s, when he returned to Guatemala under an amnesty offered to all ex-presidents.
32nd President of Guatemala. He served from March 2, 1958 to March 31, 1963. Prior to becoming president, he enjoyed a career in the military attaining the rank of general. He was assigned as a diplomat to the Guatemalan embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1918 and to the Paris embassy in 1919. He then held various posts at the military academy before becoming governor of the province of San Marcos in 1922. In 1939 he was appointed director of Roads. In 1944 he was named ambassador to Great Britain, where he became impressed by British parliamentary democracy. He then organized his political party and ran for president. He lost and was exiled to El Salvador. There, he helped the United States CIA organize the successful overthrow of the incumbent president. After the assassination of President Carlos Castillo Armas in 1957, he ran again and became president. He is best remembered for his domestic support of the creation of the Central American Common Market and pushed through an industrial incentives law. He supported laws protecting foreign investments, agricultural reforms, and an income tax. He also promoted a number of personal liberties for the citizenry. In international affairs he is remembered for providing a base for the United States for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Facing backlash from the military, he was overthrown on March 30, 1963 in a coup led by his defense minister, General Enrique Peralta Azurdia. He lived in exile in several Central American countries until the early 1970s, when he returned to Guatemala under an amnesty offered to all ex-presidents.
Bio by: letemrip
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