Operation Kufire was a program that sought to identify and track all communist party members who had flocked to Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

 during the Arbenz regime. “Via Kufire, the CIA was intent on charting their movements and monitoring or frustrating their machinations”1. This operation introduced the CIA to Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Che Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...

 and it is interesting to note, that one member of the CIA team was unsure as to whether it was even necessary to open a file and track Guevara’s movements. Ultimately, operation Kufire signified the fear that communism would spread throughout Latin American. Furthermore, it feared a domino effect, whereby if one nation in America

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 were to fall to communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, then it was likely that others would follow. Operation Kufire was intended to safeguard against any further communist uprisings and to track the activities of known communists throughout all America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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