This is an internal memorandum written on April 19, 1950, by Laurence Fishburn. It was addressed to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. The source discusses U.S.-Guatemalan relations and the labor disputes between the United Fruit Company and the Guatemalan government. Laurence Fishburn was the Labor Officer of the State Department’s Office of Regional American Affairs. Guatemala was experimenting with democracy for the first time. They passed labor reform laws that required large companies to give workers basic rights. The United Fruit Company saw this as a threat and pushed the U.S to defend them. Fishburn created the memorandum to warn the U.S official that supporting the United Fruit Company would make the U.S seem like they care more about corporate companies than the people of Guatemala.
Laurence Fishburn’s point of view is that of a U.S. government official who is concerned about how blindly supporting the United Fruit Company will affect the U.S in the long-term. It is clear from the document that he believed the U.S was making a serious mistake by tying itself so closely to a foreign corporation. The document also reflects that he believes that Guatemala’s labor reforms were reasonable and consistent with democratic values. This document is historically significant because it is proof that the United States had internal voices warning that the United Fruit Company’s narrative was misleading and regardless, they ignored these voices. It demonstrates that the United Fruit Company had powerful information control strategies such as planted newspaper stories and allies in the U.S government, that they could influence U.S decisions even when an internal source advised against it. This is perfect for my project because it demonstrates one of the ways they used information control strategies and demonstrates the influence that these strategies give them.
“It is my judgment that our unfortunate and necessarily ineffective attempts to help the Company have permitted the Communists to pose as the champions of labor and of national sovereignty, and have thereby aided them in achieving control over organized labor in Guatemala… It would appear most unwise for us to be tied to the Company’s position, without regard for Guatemala’s aspirations or sovereign feelings… Such representations appear to be undesirable because they permit the Communists to pose as the champions of labor and national sovereignty in the same breath. Any such situation is also a death trap for us, a trap which if permitted to develop very far could threaten our entire Good Neighbor Policy.”
Source:
Fishburn, Laurence. “Memorandum by the Labor Officer of the Office of Regional American Affairs to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.” April 19, 1950. In Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II, Document 453. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950v02/d453.