on the ground in Guatemala. The paper’s appallingly biased coverage reflected the Administration’s, and in particular the Dulles brothers’, control over the published narrative of events in Guatemala. In spite of this state-sponsored influence, Reston’s original piece briefly acknowledged the role of the C.I.A. in Guatemala. This small slip in media conformity helped confirm the suspicions of politically active individuals following the events domestically. In an open letter to the Times, entitled “The Guatemalan Crisis”, pacifist Hans Blumenfeld blasted Reston and the paper for inconsistent reporting. Hans Blumenfeld was born in 1892 in Hamburg, Germany. After losing his brother in the First World War, he became a vocal pacifist. Originally a member of the Communist Party in Germany, Blumenfeld moved to Russia during the 1930’s to assist Stalin’s government in executing the First Five Year Plan. Eventually expelled from the Communist Party for his pacifist political beliefs, and an unwillingness to tolerate corruption, he immigrated to the United States in order to escape the Great Purge. After leaving Russia, he dedicated himself to pacifism, and just before the Second World War, Blumenfeld
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became an American citizen. In his letter to The New York Times in June of 1954, he attacked the use of proxies to fight political struggles in Guatemala. While Blumenfeld may have lacked certain details, he clearly understood the United States’ position in Guatemala. Unaffiliated with a major domestic political network, Blumenfeld demonstrated that a careful observer could easily discern the truth of the events surrounding Armas’ coup. In his letter, Blumenfeld warns the public about the dangers of allowing Ambassador John Peurifoy to antagonize the Guatemalan government. Peurifoy, a notorious State Department bully, had infamously suggested to the indignant Árbenz government, “There are American planes everywhere in the world,” in response to his outrage over the transparent, C.I.A.-run air support for Armas’ efforts. In addition to expressing his disapproval of the events transpiring in Guatemala, Blumenfield directly challenged The New York Times at the end of his letter. He wrote, “Will your great paper set patriotism above conformity and help to put our country right in Guatemala?” Blumenfeld saw behind the curtain of the inconsistent, deceptive media