“Dulles had two lifelong obsessions: fighting Communism and protecting the rights of multinational corporations,” writes Kinzer. “In his mind they were … ‘interrelated and mutually reinforcing.’”8 That meant he didn’t need to choose between his obsessions: if the Guatemalan government took an action that hurt the interests of the United Fruit Company, for instance, that was a de facto attack on America and worthy of a military response.
