Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán, a Guatemalan military officer and politician, was President of Guatemala from 1951 to 1954, continuing the reforms of the so-called "Ten Years of Spring." His career began in the army, where he reached high ranks, before serving as Minister of Defense during the presidency of Juan José Arévalo. The fundamental achievement of his presidential term was the implementation of a sweeping agrarian reform, enacted by Decree 900. This law provided for the expropriation of uncultivated lands belonging to large landowners, including the powerful U.S. corporation United Fruit Company, for redistribution to peasants. His progressive policies, perceived as a threat to American economic interests in the context of the Cold War, led to his overthrow in a coup d'état orchestrated by the CIA in 1954. Although he received no formal recognition during his lifetime, Árbenz is today historically recognized as a central figure in the struggle for economic sovereignty and social justice in Latin America. He died in exile in Mexico.