Behind the scenes were career U.S. bureaucrats with decades of experience in Latin America — the sort of briefcase-toting professionals who melt into the crowds on the D.C. Metro. They targeted Guatemalan politicians and influential business people with a blizzard of sanctions, stern public statements and quiet arm-twisting.

“We were not willing to lose Guatemala,” he said.

It's amazing how much doublethink they do to make "avoid a coup" mean "do a coup".

Almost no one expected Arévalo to win the presidency. The 65-year-old professor, a member of an anti-corruption party, was polling around 3 percent before the first round of elections in June.

Then he scored a stunning second-place finish, buoyed by a campaign by TikTokers and young people.

TikTok being a company headquartered in the US, with the US probably doing algorithmic propaganda on the platform... dunno just thinking.

“The [Biden] administration made quite a dramatic turn and saw they had a real opportunity, a golden opportunity,” to work with an elected leader regarded as honest, said Eric Olson, a Central America expert with the Seattle International Foundation. “They pulled out as many of the big guns as they could.”

yep totally about avoiding a coup.

A procession of senior State Department officials visited Guatemala to show support for Arévalo. President Biden praised his victory. The Pentagon, recognizing “the importance of maintaining democracy and stability in Guatemala,” kept up “a steady channel of communication with Guatemalan military and defense leaders,” Daniel Erikson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere, told The Post.

ok I'm literally just posting every paragraph now. This is just a press release glamorizing US regime change lmao.

“It was a signal that the gloves were off regarding Giammattei,” McFarland said.

The State Department came out swinging, announcing it was canceling visas for nearly 300 Guatemalans. They included around two-thirds of the members of Congress and some hard-line business executives.

“The people who have their visas revoked are put into a box marked ‘corruption’ — of acting against democracy,” he said. “Their kids are being affected.”

Ultimately it seems like all involved are lame. The guy they helped is ultimately just some US puppet.