Juan José Arévalo

Who was Juan José Arévalo?

Juan José Arévalo Bermejo was the first of the reformist presidents of Guatemala. Preceded by military junta interregnum after a definitive pro-democracy revolt in 1944. Arévalo's 1944 election is considered by historians the first fair and democratic election in Guatemala's republican history; since independence from Spain, the country had seen a series of dictatorships.

Arévalo served as President from 15 March 1945 to 15 March 1951. Arévalo's administration was marked by unprecedented relatively free political life during his six-year term. Arévalo, an educator and philosopher, understood the need for advancement in individuals, communities, and nations by practical means. Before his presidency, Arévalo had been an exiled university professor. He returned to Guatemala to help in the reconstructive efforts of the new post-Ubíco government, especially in the areas of social security and drafting of a new Constitution. His philosophy of "spiritual socialism," referred to as Arevalísmo, may be considered less an economic system than a movement toward the liberation of the imagination of oppressed Latin America. In the post-World War II period, internationalist players such as the United States regarded Arevalísmo socialism as Communism, and therefore cause for unease and alarm, which garnered support from neighboring satellite caudillos such as Anastasio Somoza García.