Americans in Guatemala refers to the arrival of

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

citizens who have settled in Guatemala.

History

In the late part of the nineteenth century, there was a growing level of involvement from

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. During most of this century, the imports of Guatemala had been dominated by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, followed by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Germany and the United States. However, in 1879, the United States surpassed France and Germany and in 1889, England.Association for the Promotion of Historical Studies in Central America (AFEHC) "A finales del siglo XIX, las relaciones comerciales y diplomáticas de Francia con Guatemala vivían ya en un segundo plano frente a la creciente injerencia de Estados Unidos y Alemania en Centroamérica. Durante la mayor parte de ese siglo, las importaciones de Guatemala habían estado dominadas por Inglaterra, seguida de Francia, Alemania y Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, en 1879, Estados Unidos rebasó a Francia y Alemania y en 1889 a Inglaterra." Guatemala, 2007. The United Fruit Company sought the help of President

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, arguing that

Jacobo Arbenz Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alfredo Jacobo (born 1982), Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Mexico * Cesar Chavez Jacobo, Dominican profession ...

had legalized the Guatemalan Labor Party. In 1952 he was presented as a dangerous communist. In response, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

organized "Operation PBSuccess" which consisted in training and funding of a paramilitary rebel army (Liberation Movement). This movement gave the coup of 1954 by overthrowing Arbenz. Today there are companies operating in Guatemala as Compassion Guatemala, OLX, Aventours Travel Agency - Visit The Heart of the Mayan World, etc.

American influence in Guatemala

There is much American influence in Guatemala, from the language, religion, traditions and economic influence.

English

Guatemala is the fourth

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

country where

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is spoken. While in Guatemala only 5% of the population speaks that language, the Swedish company Education First, places the country in 4th place in Latin America in the knowledge of this language. The study establishes the English Proficiency Index (EPI), and places Guatemalans ranked 27th with a score of 47.80 (Lower Level), only surpassed in the region by

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, which was placed in 16th with 54.49;

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

51.48 (Intermediate) and Costa Rica 49.15 (Low Level).

Protestantism

In 1882, under the presidency of General

Justo Rufino Barrios Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón (19 July 1835 – 2 April 1885) was a Guatemalan politician and military general who served as President of Guatemala from 1873 to his death in 1885. He was known for his liberal reforms and his attempts to reuni ...

, Frederick Crowe became the first

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

missionary in Guatemala and officially received the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

pastor John C. Hill. In 1887 he replaced the Presbyterian minister Eduardo M, Haymaker, who worked in Guatemala over 60 years. By 1900 he entered the Central Guatemala Mission, the Friends (Quakers), the Primitive Methodist Church and the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, Lenexa within Johnson Cou ...

Halloween

The Halloween celebration was propagated in Guatemala in the 1920s, when U.S. troops deployed a military base in the current Campo Marte. During the 1940s, it spread to young people who had more freedom of expression during the government of President

Juan José Arévalo Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 – 8 October 1990) was a Guatemalan professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United ...

.Halloween in Guatemala-History
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Mormons in Guatemala

There are also communities of American Mormon missionaries, who are mainly from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, there is a Mormon Temple in the City of Guatemala and

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is both the seat of the namesake Department and municipality, in Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It m ...

References

{{Americans abroad American diaspora in North America Ethnic groups in Guatemala Guatemala–United States relations