 The United Fruit Company responded with intensive lobbying of members of the United States government , leading many US congressmen and senators to criticize the Guatemalan government for not protecting the interests of the company . The Guatemalan government responded by saying that the company was the main obstacle to progress in the country . American historians observed that " To the Guatemalans it appeared that their country was being mercilessly exploited by foreign interests which took huge profits without making any contributions to the nation 's welfare . " In 1953 , 200 @,@ 000 acres ( 81 @,@ 000 ha ) of uncultivated land was expropriated by the government , which offered the company compensation at the rate of 2 @.@ 99 US dollars to the acre , twice what the company had paid when it bought the property . More expropriation occurred soon after , bringing the total to over 400 @,@ 000 acres ( 160 @,@ 000 ha ) ; the government offered compensation to the company at the rate at which the UFC had valued its own property for tax purposes . This resulted in further lobbying in Washington , particularly through Secretary of State John Foster Dulles , who had close ties to the company . The company had begun a public relations campaign to discredit the Guatemalan government ; it hired public relations expert Edward Bernays , who ran a concerted effort to portray the company as the victim of the Guatemalan government for several years . The company stepped up its efforts after Dwight Eisenhower had been elected in 1952 . These included commissioning a research study on Guatemala from a firm known to be hawkish , which produced a 235 @-@ page report that was highly critical of the Guatemalan government . Historians have stated that the report was full of " exaggerations , scurrilous descriptions and bizarre historical theories . " The report nonetheless had a significant impact on the Congressmen that it was sent to . Overall , the company spent over a half @-@ million dollars to influence both lawmakers and members of the public in the US that the Guatemalan government needed to be overthrown . 
