Operation PBHistory
Operation PBHistory . Operation PBHistory was a covert operation carried out in Guatemala by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. It followed Operation PBSuccess, which led to the overthrow of Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz (pictured) in June 1954 and ended the Guatemalan Revolution. PBHistory attempted to use documents left behind by Árbenz's government, police agencies, trade unions and the communist Guatemalan Party of Labour to demonstrate that the Guatemalan government had been under the influence of the Soviet Union. The documents uncovered by the operation proved useful to the Guatemalan intelligence agencies, enabling the creation of a register of suspected communists. The operation did not find evidence that the Guatemalan communists were controlled by the Soviet government, and could not counter the narrative that the United States had toppled the Árbenz government to serve the interests of the United Fruit Company.