 The Arévalo government attempted to support democratic ideals abroad as well . One of Arévalo 's first actions was to break diplomatic relations with the government of Spain under dictator Francisco Franco . At two inter @-@ American conferences in the year after his election , Arévalo recommended that the republics in Latin America not recognize and support authoritarian regimes . This initiative was defeated by the dictatorships supported by the United States , such as the Somoza regime in Nicaragua . In response , Arévalo broke off diplomatic ties with the Nicaraguan government and with the government of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic . Frustrated by the lack of results from working with the other Latin American governments , Arévalo began to support the Caribbean Legion , which sought to replace dictatorships with democracies across Latin America , by force if necessary . This led to the administration being labelled as communist by the dictatorial governments in the region . 
