K-PROGRAM - APPROACHES TO GUATEMALAN LABOR LEADERS (W/ATTACHMENT)

Created: 4/21/1954

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

FLOUTING AND RECORD SHEET 1

WSTrtUCTIOM: Officer dcfaaiMt.ent ihoi.hl ben Ihe "TO" column.in. ehwldnd comment nunibeux)with Ihe number in Ihe "TO" column. Each ollico' should initial (check rr before further This Routing and Rrcord Sheolhe returned lo RagiiUy.

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CIA HBTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM RELEASE AS SANITIZED

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IBAT/ro3lCCES3

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Chief of Station, Guatemala

IlIEOUI

K-Program

Approaches to Guatemalan Labor Loaders

ATTHi Graham L. PAGE

It appears, on tha battU of tho county inf oraation srailabie, tbat three principal cooploxoB Bust be taken into account in an attempt to capture partial or complete control of rural labori the CSCO, tha DAB aad tbe PAR, While tho CBCGoodly proportion of the rural vorkere and email lendholdars, the executive-type government prevallinE la Guatemalaerge measure of labor control to tbe DAI, Beyond theae two sntltiea tba PAR baa oonsidarahla influence ia the CBCG and, preenaably, on the DAU. oncerted approach to rural labor mat therefore take all three power blocks Into eeoount.

a. Prime Target in the CaCC ia, of course

* * J. ThisrC- eport indicates that were arewaa iceoiogioai. ana tactical ouxaremoesand tho

Comunlsts, namely,emphasises tea proprietary and tenure

interests of tha smellnd peasants, as against tbe Conrtunlstneka them oacabare of collective farms. This Ideological split isinpproach and in propaganda lines. In addition,reportste bs venal end to havealary

onui iron uHARAAOD MaoDonald. Thereafter, again aooorelneKajoronth.

vbo bejatged to tbe sooialiBt party, switched

o tbe FAR. For your jjuu>should shortly reoalva a

etter frexC

this lettersympethy ana (support end will bo

lucned In terms quite aLwilar to tnose ofM letter to ARBeSZl itwill be rather rocep tive to the letter, since he

CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PR RELEASE AS SANITIZED

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Indicatedha hia naif waa going to write totCZ- ^ In any

approachit aay be uceful to apall out toirreconcilable

ooiailatof aoall landholders andof collectivisation. In tbis oonosotion, PAGE aightillevision of the Agrarian Law In toe aenee thatto peasants should be given to thaa free of all encumbrancesolear title, not in tbe present joauner where land ia given to thefor use and la subject to arbitrary recall byinterventionGovernment decree, as far as indicating* potential

oggrandlsement of his own power is concerned.ugai. uuta the position that ha and his backersingle agricultural unioaj tale would indicate elinlna-tion of the CGTG fron organisational work In tho agricultural field. There is no need to underscore the utility of money with regard to this recruitment. In return for whatever promisee are made or compensations paid to hdaC.

J should be asked toublic or saml-puhlio stand to tbe ax*ectwould bo foolish to take land from Corsainist hands) not only willtenure be highly impermanent, but it also exposes tne raclpieut totho inevitably victoriousbest

know bow to moderate nia ^rstaingu.safety. be should be osawa to mobilise the workers against invasions ofby Ctoeauniot agitators. ahould take the lead in

expressing the widespread sentiment thai/is busily wylngthe caapeslnoa for oannon fodder when fighting comes and thatleaders themselves will hide or flee until they see whloh wayahould do everything In his power to augment the

rising peasant BenOiawnt that, in tbe event of any trouble, tbey uill takewoods and have no port In the battle. Wherever possible, throughchannels, he should urge peasants who are offered arms tobut to keep them for their own protection and not to use them inof the government. It ls realised that tba foregoing requeststall order and they are stated here merely to indicate tha generalwhich tbeuooesaful reorultawnt, might

CO.

b. sccsDsends that the approach

profitably be made through C

s reported to be vooau, addicted to .liquor and leacaery. However, ESHERALDITS's information aeeas to Le-auporseded by events in Guateula. According to Babaaayrom Guatemala,actional fifcht within the PAP extended into the CK&C

J. Given ths generally chaoticGuatemalan politics, this does aot necessarily aoaa that thaand liaison"as been disrupted

thereby, but the approachLnrougflC ill have to depend

on further study in the fiela, xz is also worth noting thatC Jjla lioted

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by both CALUGilJ^ and ERRATICoOBiialst.

tbe American MsMpsjf Despatch cited Iaaborta vary oloao alllaace vitl* "

a loader ot ouf feeftenof the PAH. C

Ha sodoneea, Feiipesdalupa PCSRAS ul nones,cikasa Freaoisoood Enriquo VXTSU ware ocouaed of de-tie ting from tba party Una, attempting u> divide the PAR and endangering tho 'Indopeodemcoheorking sjera* Other dissidents froa the FAR are to be found in the MsrSe MIS abralee faction, whose members ware either erpalled or suspended toward tbe end of Heedless to aay, tbe intraneural plotura of tbe FAR is hardly clear froa ths IlNCQLif vantage point. It only appears that, In view of thelose conneotion with the CJCG tbet the troubled waters ia the PAR ught to aako for reasonably good fishing ln tba ChTX.C S sn 'rc-ROJ contact and also appears on CALLXQffilS'mist list.

two lop figures In tbe BAN are Mkjor AlfOneo MARTI HEXUaldamer BARRIOSZt la not neoeeaary te furalah furtherMARTIssz in this report. Aa regards Waldeaar BARRIOS Xlee, snbis fornar aantor Jorge GARCIA Bauer statedKlee was In tbs party only for salfleb reasons of prestigegain aod toat ba did not think tbat BARRIOS Klaa would supportthrough thick and thin. Jtatioa fllaa should raflsot otherofho might ba uoaful ia obtaining control over rural labor.

A key individual would oortalnlyto bm tee lilrootor of the KegionaJ Inapaotcra for the Parian Law. If suffiolant defection in place could be muatared within tha LbUf, there wouldood obanco of Oaring the BAR oracle down acre energetically then bafora on Caaaamlst organisers in the rural areas. Concurrently, .ho OkU could favor tha CHCO at sash time as it sssmid appropriate to demonstrate to tha CSX leaders that their support of PACE's program would indeed pay off. lb would also be useful far tha OkM to reopen ths oases of CoccBinlBts or pro-Certsuniat politicians who here received land under tbe Agrarian LA* and poaaibly declare that sash land wee secured by improper neons. It would further be of value if the OAM, in ita propaganda, vould stress tha peaceful, non-talli tary role of tba eaapeaino.

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S. To summarise, UieobjeoLive in tbs defection of agricultural labor loaders or lndlviduala having Influence over agricultural labor it to kaop tuo caapeeinos froa fighting on banalf ol tha governmentey. Firm pledges to that effect should ba exacted where possible. Secondary objectives are to whittle away aa Camaaudst influence In the countrysideajy, to evoke distrust of tbereflate aoonp tha rural population and to frighten the government hy giving it evidence of Its gradual disintegration.

Paija tour

2. Industrial Labor

Industrial labor would appear touch sore difficult nut to crack than rural labor. Tbo general procedure would appear to be three-pronged, aa In tbe case of rural labor. It aay be poeelblo to makelying wedge Into toou, to broad oo the atriotly laborbane with political support froot tbe FRC and the FAR and te sanction the whole development by enlisting support from key individuals la the Ministry of Economy and Labor and La the Inspectorate General of Labor.

n the SAW would seem to be Alejandroaa Idealistic anti-Coanuniet of stout leftist leanings, andCuba, another leftistost unscrupulous record. Ifcharacter analyses of these two aen arepPofitgWy^be uaed to recruit other labor leaders, In toe SAWofflliatod/or^potential affiliates, who are of his ward-healingon tbe other hand, would possibly attract ideologically leftistin thend In other craft unions that are now or couldto tha SA."ff. eneral Idea would be to build around tnesea pair of bat taring rams tbat would strike at tbe centralhile tharo appears to ba virtually oo nope of altering. Intine available, the thorough Ceasainlat domination at the -op ofthe jaHP, under GTr&ZB and MORALES Cuba, oould eat, away at tbethe QasssjgeJ sts and thereby shake then to tbe center. Ao idealcourse, would be for the 3AMF to withdraw fron ternnd u> aowith lt strictly along craft union (of tho AFL typo) lines.

to ES.MBtAI.DlTE, Marco Antonio VZXlaHAft, of thaiunane Lai straits, distrusted by the OoarauoAsts,anambitions. Rs is apparently in conflict with CHARHAOTJ HeoDcoaldto wrestcontrol from CHAJINAOD MaoDonald. It ls poeaibleproper subsidisation androper boost to his ego, flllAXAitpersuaded to antar the Industrial labor field aad toasethere. Likewise, in the FAR, ESMKhALDITK rnnnassanns that(recently expelled) should be encouraged to organise thea who follow the into one great bloc aad especially tc trya federation of public employees Independently of tberecommends hintinghat be sight he the futureI^ibor in Guatemala. There is no need to add anything, in tide dl spa too,

on ths case of Carlos Manual Approaches to These three Individuals, given the coostant Intermingling of labor affairs and party politics ia Guatemala, might serve to disrupt the control machinery of thend to pea&Ltthe defection of unions from the federation.

alraadj atarget, aay be able to ooblliae

acme of thoOativo reaourcea of the HLoiatrv of Economy aad Labor.iapedo OGTG activities. Julio VALLADAKSS Castillo, oo whom, unfortunately, no Information la available In UjCOUf files, ia tbo laapeotor Cenaral of Labor and aa such sight, be able to funotion even nore effectively thanC Jin interrupting or impeding OCIG activities. The confUcto thet occur iron tine to tlae between Alfooao SOLQRZAITO, -lead of the IGSS, and the Cooaunlst Party night be nurtured by an approachQJUAN0oint where there ia noticeably discriminatory treatment meted out by the IOSS to CcsHauniat

d. In aun, defection efforts anong induetrial labor should bo aiaod at, aa in the case of agricultural labor, denying the use of araod civilian ao the governmentey. In the inter in they ahould attempt to create sufficient organizational ohaos, particularly of an anti-Cosfouniat variety, as to keep the labor leaders preoccupied with Internecine strife sod to prevent than iron concentrating on "defense of the revolution."

3. The above brief skotch of potential labor targets inrograa is adadttedly highly defective and baaed on sketchy information. It is hoped vhat Station files and local knowledge will assist oeasurably in giving direction to tho caapaign and In opening up targets of cpportuniW. It is hoped thatill be available to steer PACE's efforts In this field.

C. UJCOLH will be clad to assist tho labor aspects ofrograa in any way it can, if it Is borne in Bind that the Guatemalan labor picture, as known abroad, appears sketchy and fragaeated.

5. UJCOLK does not bellavo that effort ahould be expended onto raauscitate ths UtfTL. Hoi only the construction ofoof federation, but the proceaa of gaining affiliates to it, is -to arduous androcess that the schedule set forallow it. ll *cphaaic ahould be concentrated oa weakening and splitting tbo present labor structure, rather than attenptinr. to put coop thing else in its place, n properly be left to thesy phase.

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Original document.

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