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March 31, 1963: Guatemalan President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes Overthrown

1963-03-31

Guatemalan President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes is overthrown in a coup and succeeded by his minister of defense, Enrique Peralta Azurdi. According to some sources, the coup plotters were given a green light by President John F. Kennedy, who opposed Fuentes’ decision to allow former president Juan José Arevalo to return from exile and participate in the upcoming presidential elections. [North American Congress on Latin America, 1967; Rabe, 1999, pp. 75]