Thousands of Guatemalans flocked to the capital’s cemetery Friday for the burial of the remains of a leftist president who was overthrown in a CIA-supported coup in 1954.
The burial of Col. Jacobo Arbenz brought together friends and family, Mayan Indians and students who walked through the streets of Guatemala City in a rare show of unity.
The only point of discord was the arrival at the cemetery of Defense Minister Gen. Marco Antonio Gonzalez, who stayed in his car after crowds booed and screamed, “Army of assassins get out of the country.”
In marked contrast to Arbenz’s departure, when soldiers stripped him to his underwear at the airport before sending him into exile, his body was received by Gonzalez at the military airport Thursday with full presidential honors.
Some elderly Guatemalans wept as they recalled the reformist regime led by Arbenz and the years of military repression that followed.
Arbenz, who died in Mexico City in 1971, was Guatemala’s last leftist president.
