| In Guatemala's first free elections, JUAN JOSÉ ARÉVALO (1904–90), a university professor, was chosen president to succeed dictator Jorge Ubico, who had been expelled. The new president followed a program of economic and labor reform, which met with growing opposition from large landowners, foreign investors (particularly the United Fruit Company), and the military. Arévalo was an anti-Communist, but he did promote social, educational, and health care reform, and introduced a 1947 Labor Code that provided workers with social security and the right to unionize, bargain collectively, and strike. The latter greatly angered UFCO executives, who fought against the code. (See Guatemala) | 1 |
