How did Carlos Castillo Armas reverse the reforms of the Ten Years of Spring?

Following the 1954 coup that ousted Jacobo Árbenz, Carlos Castillo Armas assumed power and systematically dismantled the social and economic progress achieved during the Ten Years of Spring.

His administration reversed these reforms through several key actions:

• Land Reform: He halted the ambitious program of land redistribution that had sought to expropriate unused land from large estates, including the United Fruit Company, effectively returning control to traditional landowning elites.12
• Political Suppression: His military-led government suppressed political opposition, reversing the democratic expansion that had characterized the previous decade.1
• Economic Policy: He offered generous concessions to foreign investors, undoing the efforts of the Arévalo and Árbenz administrations to regulate foreign enterprises and secure greater benefits for Guatemalan laborers.32
• Shift in Power: Power was consolidated back into the hands of the military and traditional elites, undermining the democratic institutions and labor organizations that had gained influence during the revolutionary period.1

These reversals contributed to long-term political instability and set the stage for a prolonged civil conflict that devastated the country for decades.1