CIA History: Iran, Guatemala, and the Bay of Pigs in the United States
Central Intelligence Agency History: Iran, Guatemala, and the Bay of Pigs
After its creation by Truman, the CIA quickly became a key foreign policy tool for the White House. With President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s approval, the CIA conspired in the 1950s to overthrow two democratically elected governments. The motivation in each case was a desire to frustrate the expansion of Soviet political and military influence into new regions and to protect the interests of American corporations. In Iran, Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq tried to secure greater government control of oil production and policy. British oil interests and the British secret service began to undermine Mosaddeq, and the CIA joined in because they saw Mosaddeq’s government as sympathetic to the Soviet Union. In a coup in 1953, Mosaddeq’s government was replaced by an undemocratic monarchist regime under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. American investors then acquired a major slice of Iranian oil production.
In Guatemala, the government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán planned to take over some land owned by a U.S. corporation, the United Fruit Company. With Eisenhower’s strong backing, the CIA plotted Arbenz’s overthrow in 1954 and helped install a right-wing dictatorship. Supporters of the plot portrayed Arbenz as a puppet of the Soviet Union, although many historians have challenged this view. The CIA was jubilant about its apparent triumphs in Iran and Guatemala, though a more sober assessment suggests that many Iranians and Guatemalans were already fed up with their governments and that the CIA played a marginal role.
But the CIA’s record in Iran and Guatemala led to overconfidence, and this was a factor in the decision to attempt the overthrow of the government of Cuba in 1961. Once again, the motive was to stop Communist expansion. In Cuba, unlike in Iran and Guatemala, the government really was Communist. However, Cuban leader Fidel Castro enjoyed widespread popular approval in Cuba. In April 1961 a CIA-trained force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed at the Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the south coast of Cuba. CIA planners anticipated an easy victory in Cuba, but when the small army did not receive support from their fellow Cubans, Castro’s forces defeated them handily (see Bay of Pigs Invasion). This was a great shock to the administration of President John F. Kennedy, and to the CIA. Allen Dulles, the CIA director, resigned following the failed invasion. Although the CIA continued to use covert operations, top agency officials often took a more skeptical view of their usefulness. (1)
In this Section: CIA History: Early Years, CIA History: Iran, Guatemala, and the Bay of Pigs, CIA History: Early Intelligence Gathering, CIA History: The Mid-1960s Through the 1970s, CIA History: Controversies of the Early and Mid-1970s, CIA History: Attempted Reform Under President Carter, CIA History: The CIA Under President Reagan
CIA History: Covert Operations in Central and South America, CIA History: Covert Operations in Non-Latin Countries, Iran-Contra, CIA History: The 1990s, September 11 Attacks, Weapons of Mass Destruction, CIA History: Secret Prisons, Torture, and Renditions, Valerie Plame Wilson, CIA Inspector General and CIA Obstruction.
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