Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 - 8 October 1990) was a professor of philosophy who became Guatemala’s first democratically elected president in 1944. He was elected f...ver másJuan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 - 8 October 1990) was a professor of philosophy who became Guatemala’s first democratically elected president in 1944. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United States backed dictator Jorge Ubico that began the Guatemalan Revolution. He remained in office until 1951, surviving 25 coup attempts. He did not contest the election of 1951, instead choosing to hand over power to Jacobo Árbenz. As president, he enacted several social reform policies, including an increase in the minimum wage and a series of literacy programs. He also oversaw the drafting of a new constitution in 1945.
JUNE COBB was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma in 1927 to Jasper E. Cobb and Jesse Lois Sharp. She had two older brothers, Jasper E., Jr. and Tom Arthur. She served as an adjunct of the Civil Air Patrol squadron of Norman, Oklahoma at the rank of 2nd Class Lt., before leaving Oklahoma to study at the University of Mexico. There she met a Colombian man and lived for six months in the Ecuadorian jungle. During this time she became interested in the coca addiction among the Indians in the jungle, and was drawn to Fidel and Raul Castro’s campaign against the debilitating effects of vice under Batista. In September 1959, she became a translator of Fidel Castro’s speeches and all-round PR assistant.ver menos