José Manuel Fortuny

[1][2] Árbenz was overthrown by a coup engineered by the United States in 1954, an event which drove Fortuny into exile, along with many of his comrades.

Before becoming involved with politics, he had worked variously for the Sterling company, the British Legation, and the broadcaster journal Aire.

[3] During the fall of Jorge Ubico and the beginning of the Guatemalan Revolution in 1944, Fortuny was vice president of the Student Association Law.

He became a member of the Popular Front, and when that merged into the Revolutionary Action Party (Partido Acción Revolucionaria, or PAR) in 1945, he became the leader of the radical wing of the new organization.

[5] One year later, Fortuny and other young radical figures founded a covert group within the PAR called the Democratic Vanguard.