agreed to support Arana's candidacy in the next presidential election, scheduled for November 1950. This undertaking was given in writing. However, it was kept a secret; the American embassy only learned of it in 1947. Arévalo himself recovered swiftly, but was forced to support the agreement. Although Guatemala was not completely democratized by the Guatemalan Revolution (illiterate women, for example, were still denied the vote) it nonetheless brought about substantial labor reforms. The parties that supported Arévalo's government were led by young middle class individuals, who supported this process. The reforms alarmed Guatemala's landowning elite, who looked for a political candidate who would support their cause. Thus, a number of wealthy Guatemalans began to cultivate Arana's support against the labor reforms of Arévalo. Arana began to publicly complain about the labor reforms, without actually taking any actions against Arévalo. In the 1948 congressional election, he supported a number of anti-Arévalo candidates; however, none of them were elected to Congress. After the electoral failure, Arana continued to try, through threats and persuasion, to get elected representatives to support him. He talked to José Manuel Fortuny, a leftist leader in the PAR. Fortuny later said that Arana asked him "Why don't you and your friends like me? I'm not a man of the right," to which Fortuny responded "We are not against you. We appreciate the role that you played in the revolt against Ponce. It's just that you have no sympathy for labour." By 1949 the National Renovation Party and the PAR were both openly hostile to Arana. A small faction of the Popular Liberation Front (FPL) supported him, but was soundly defeated at the FPL party convention in 1949. As a result, the faction split off to support Arana. The leftist parties decided to back Árbenz instead, as they believed that only a military officer could defeat Arana. In 1947, Arana had demanded that certain labor leaders be expelled from the country; Árbenz vocally disagreed with Arana, and the latter's intervention limited the number of deportees. Death In order to run for election, the constitution required that Arana resign his military position by May 1950, and that his successor be chosen by Congress from a list submitted by the Consejo Superior de la Defensa (CSD). Elections for the CSD were scheduled for July 1949. The months before this election saw intense wrangling, as Arana supporters tried to gain control over