GUATEMALA NEWS NOTES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500490057-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 1999
• Sequence Number: 57
• Publication Date: May 4, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2001/09/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500490057-3
U.S. Officials Only
CQ i 'IDEIYrIAI.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT 25X1A
TN1a 06tW1 N CONT11N$ INIO[NNT,ON 1IIlGTINO 7,0 t110Nt1 wi 11101
0I TN[ YNI TIO OTAtEN. .ITN IN SNt11[.... a III 'If's 11. 0[CT 1011[ 101
PLACE ACQUIRED
COY SOURCE)
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
DATE DISTR./fMi
NO. OF PAGES 5
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
1. "An exhortation to Guatemalans to fight Communism was made in a pastoral letter
25X1A issued- b Archbi h
Y
s op Monsignor Mariano Roane ll Arellano. He said:
It
The people of Guatemala must rise as a single taan against the enemy of God
and the nation. Our fight against Communism must be both Catholic and na-
tional, Anti-Christian Comninism continues its insolent advances in or coun-
try and tries to infi.a.trate, hiding itself under the cloak of social ad-
vances..... Rossell Arellano declared official Guatemalan radio stations had
broadcast an incessant campaigt: of divtsion.)including attacks upon the church
and proclamationG of all the Soviet political slogans. lie added that ncws-
standc are buried unddn_ Cn. riunist; literature. Le claimed Communist cells are
multiplying actively. r-:;:a.tl.ed that in 1946 the Church had warned that Com-
munism was at the doors cf Iuatemala, which had been closed to priests. He
said the USSR is not a paradie;~ but a concentration camp where behind the
force of tanks and arrcr^.d cars all are obliged to work for the master, the
state. 'Cc a unist .'rocagandL, no:: ::as arrived at even the farthest corner of
Guat,emala and has lert in many places its lamentable seeds, budding in the
blood of our fellow-i;uaterca-La^.s."
2. "A GuaterGalau, Obtacir_?io Morayan, was one of the six plotters killed in an un-
successful ambush against President Somoza in Nicaragua. The others were four
1Nieexaguans led by Pablo L3al. and a Cuban. So:noza claimed the plot was the
work o. General Emiliaro Cna:a.-,rro and i,is Cc, servative Party. The charges be made ainst 1;1e? - will
R _ Cons r. zit ~e deputies when Congress opens during the the week
j. 'The W R 'Trace subsidiary, A:Pneia Maritime, National, which operates the Pacific
Coast parts c_ Stn .Tcz.-f Guetrnala and Champerico on behalf of the Guatemalan
-government, u:11 b:: liaui.dnsed at a stockholders' meeting as result of the gov-
erniaen 's failure to ren-z Ito contract. The contract was for five years re -
niabl=' -,~- -rj-;,e-:???" :':~o last Jive-year renewal expired
ui1 two shn.t exte.naions, .^e for a month :_itd a second for ten days, were
U.S. Officials Only
0CJ:GIi'1,'NTIt.i.
015TR IOUT !ON R,'f 37AT!' ApNY =~
~ I
T, 1s report is for the sue within the USA of the Intelligence eomponenta
A
n
l
I
di
of
the Departments or
P
nc
ea
n
cated rbove. It to not to be transmitted oversew without
O
i
i
ti
'
the
concurrence of the
r
g
na
ng office thra
agh the Asnintant Director of the Office of Collection
and
Dissemination, CIA.
L
Approved For Release 2001/09/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500490057-3
 Approved For Release 2001/09/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500490057-3
a0NFI1MTIAL/uS ouzel IS ONLY 25X1A
granted. Official circles said the company had been asked to introduce various
reforms to conform with now prevailing laws which the company did not do, and
as a consequence no new extensions were granted. Shares of the company are
hold by various Guatemalans an well as Grace, and the Guatemalan government
which owns those seized from German citizens at the beginning of World War II.
4. "The National A_ncarian Department announced on the 25X1A
number of peasants benefiting under the agrarian program di--tribution totalled
75 thousand. Of this number only 590 leasoholde (usufructo vitalicio) had been
granted these recipients or expropriated land. These leaseholds authorize the
use of the land by the recipient but he has no legal authority under them to
sell, rent or convoy to his heirs any of this property. An additional 176
leaseholds-are expected to be delivered in a few days to agricultural workers
of Ban Luis X l.acatefn and 354 to peasants of the Barcenas national farm in
Villa Nueva.
"The Minister of Fine:ace and Public Credit, Raul Sierra Franco, denied the gov-
orament had increased the amount of money in circulation and explained there is
no inflation in Guatemala because the current activity of the nationts money is
due to an increase of private business. However, he granted that perhaps the
profits of merchants have diminished. Sierra Franco explained that within ten
years the country will see the fruits of the various programs initiated by thM
government to improve the economic capacity of the largest sectors of the popu-
lation. He potated to such programs as the agrarian reform, the creation of
the National Agrarian Bank, the Housing Bank, etc., which sooner or later will
result in a larger number of Guatemalans able to pay taxes and to enjoy a bet-
ter standard of living. k[owever, he admitted, so far these programs have pro-
duced little benefit. He said the reduction of the 1954-55 bua.grst from the pre-
vious fiscal year does not mean retraction of money in circulation and as a con-
sequence will have no direct effect on individuals. The now budget is figured
on normal receipts, and Sierra Franco wants to adjust the expenses to income.
The actual fiscal yearns budget is @74,579,904, and the budget for the next
fiscal year is estimated at 869,934,000. He said despite this reductionof
over four million quetzalea that all the government obligations can be mat with-
ot:t increasing the public debt. He attributed past deficiencies in Guatemalan
budgets town overestimation of income as well as a lack of.adminidtrative or-
( uiization which resulted in a waste of funds. He cited three examples of the
lack of administrative organization: the Pet4n lumber operations were osti-
mested to produce Q,144,000 and actually yielded Q8,000; the tax on beer shops
which'later was repealed and yielded nothing; the taxes on extraction of chicle
end chiquibul estimated at Q225,000 have not-yet produced a cant. He disclosed
there ii"6 been a considerable falling off of taxon on aguardiente as result of
clandestine distilling. In previous years in 4astorn Guatemala each inhabitant
consumed an-average ,f six li`ers of auaardiente annually. However, during
1953, this consumption fc-11. to lase than half a liter per person. He said it
is not true that there is less drinking of a8aardiente, but there has been a
decrease in legally-taxed ag2.ardiente, and he estimated this less at ten mil-
lion cructzelles a yeer. Sierra Franco said the difference from receipts fixed
in the current budget ant the quantities actually received is estimated as of
6 Apr 54 to be Q9,400,000, which by the end of the fiscal year could reach
Q12,000,000. He said. there would be no ineraae n in the salaries of public
cueployecz, and there will bo no 'exceptions from this rule except one, and that
will cover workers who raeei.ve very low salaries of Q15 a month. He said the
govr:rrurent will open no new offices ex^apt the renting office recently created
by congress. He said, bower. r. the government will try to improve schools and
hospitals even to thF. extent. c,f e.otabliuhing new schools and new public health
canters. He expre3oc1 1h5:, r.c,l.e. that future public works will be carried on with
an eye to the nstic-icl benefit, end not on a basis of pressure applied by a muni-
cipe.l'ity or a member of Conrrc s,+ He said the Finance Ministry is drawing up a
plan that will cover the Rradua... developme::t of the entire country. Under such
es plan, i. ' J. e.le^tr!.f7 nst'ton of Guatamnala would utilize plants such as those as
tablial:ed at Rio Hondo and Los Eiclavox to give light to various tot.ns instead
L_
Approved For Release 2001/09/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500490057-3
 Approved For Release 2001/09/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500490057-3
CoNFID tTI?AT./US OFFICIAI6 ONLY 2
- 3 -
of installing plants in each one. Road work would ine..ude paving and building
of bridges of the Atlantic highway between Guatemala and Puerto Tomas .s well
as other highways. He said that any savings under the budget should go to pay
off the public debt. He added that no ministry or public official can exceed
the amount assigned for purchases and no purchase could be made on credit'. ?
Sierra Franco said this is one of the principal treasury problems facing the
country.
6. "The city of. Guatemala was ordered by the First Labor Court to pay for overtime,
back pay, and other social benefits demanded by the city's two thousand employ-
ees which is expected to reach Q500 thousand. The overtime Is due the workers
from the month of The municipality decided to appeal
the judgment-after a city council meeting decided there wore r.t enough funds
in the-budget to meet these demands.
7. "Impacto of printed the following cat, ,hIem on Communism:
eCommanism--Here ic your executioner, Liberty.
Communism--here is your enemy, October Revolution (the nationalist
movement).
Communism--Here is your enemy, Guatemala.
Communism--Here is Cain, Brotherhood.
Cotmnuniom--Here is yo,ir denial, lquality.'
B, "I ache S reproduced Foreign hdiiiioter Toriello'a?denunciation of the
-three Guatemalan exile., and anti-Comnunisto who tieM -to the ionraeae conference
in a? vain effort to point up the existence' of opposition to the imurrent? Guate-
malati-regime . According to Impacts Toriello told a Venezuelan newspaper press
conferenee.that the three attorneys, Luis Coronado Lira, Carlos salazar,?h:,
and Luis Vn].ladaras Aycinor.a, were paid conspirators who wore'do~y plot-
ting abroad no a of doing it in their own nations Be explained, to the
Vonozuolen press that the three men were attorneys for the North American
fruit oonpenios and denied that, they ware exiled. He said that it was his be-
lief that they exiled themselves voluntarily in order to plot abroad..
9? "Foreign Minister Guillarmer Toriollo, in his first press conference since his
return from the Inbtr-Amaricnn Conference at Caracas, prior to a 45-minuto radio
report to the r4ticn :rive days following, said that Guatemala at Caracas sought
to defend the aovereihn night of this free people of the hemisphere to define
their earn destiny, not to defend intisrnational Comauniev. He said Guatemala
fought and won the roafrli?rm.tion. of human rights. He said that, the Dulles mo-
tion apprcvarw at the Confar,~nuv threatens the inter-American system bo.atiae it
,violates the?pr.noiplo of nonintervention in the, internal affairs of other
countries. to claims tlu; Ditl.1aa resolution established -a system of unilateral
judgment an Conmtuni:it, ..u, , Svii J,nu or t7au euniet system and eventually can be raced
against the j a '.tuun tu,+.-J xirt. Hm c.l.almed that this resolution is based upon a
twisted ittterpr~rrat,1 n' of Archaic ra of the Rio de Janeiro Pact. He claimed that
today Guntntnale. Masai u ,Arts; ..jr rrititVNrit in the hemisphere. He said that the Ud
governmcn'!, with nsitt .a'~ +.y out,p ,rt arau&rt to transform the Caracas Con. eranoo into
a ooui'b in whiel (}us 'ii (.'t, wi?4'L he in the Jguilt7 seat. The Guatemalan delega-
tion in Verio'auej. a;an bhioucand congratulatory no aages upon its
prttitlop raw #titht, tihottF nu,: IJ,o u1k?niraturviti of persons of, t m most divsrae au-
,ttlpr7,tdt.;rtc; 1tealitio d.:,Jn;sLn ..nci ertoic,l ttitel econbtrtie slapsen, uscurding to
'1'; : ,.a:llu. Qiw of t,h:a C;t f:4n'ui. on tJurlramtttt.n at Caracas,, he e'id', was the Confer-
ur,rau apprr:vu i~q~7r?,r0aasrdi;; %h,ti, taw: ns,untrina of the Western Hemisphere adopt
ay{s'atrirat3 lrv t9 no a volution to this rjrativo land p}'oblems in ? TberG-Atnariea. Um
axpld1130r? t;Iia ivartie!;+:+3, r, flI A.oint>tila 1,41aliir,rttii between VsnesuelA and Guatemala
W ,a dtua to two bn . i i (l,) t,itr, r3r Yq~;ly;lit,y uhuwu by, the government of Gonr32'111
llatE'e1f7Ei 'r?