In June 1952 Arbenz signed Decree 900, which sought to expropriate mostly fallow and underused land from large estates, divide it into small parcels, and sell it to farmers. The former owners were to be compensated for their losses. Even the New York Times editorial page saw these reforms as “long overdue.” The paper argued that “in promoting social justice there should be a relatively fair distribution of the land”; it was wrong to tarnish the plan with the epithet “communistic.”
