
Diego Rivera’s painting portraying the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état
The painting depicts at the center, standing, CIA Director Allen Dulles striking a deal with Guatemala's newly installed right-wing president, Castillo Armas.
Dulles has his hand on a bomb that bears the face of the US president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Other American officials surround them, including John Foster Dulles, Allen's brother and Secretary of State at the time, and John Peurifoy, US ambassador to Guatemala. A Catholic priest, resembling archbishop Mariano Rossell y Arellano, blesses the meeting and looks pleased.
The group is wedged between an armed rebellion on the right and the hard labor of banana plantations on the left, guarded by a soldier. The painting represents three events that seem to happen impossibly at a single moment, collapsing years of violence and corruption into one massive event.
More info: https://art-for-a-change.com/blog/2016/02/a-new-look-at-riveras-gloriosa-victoria.html