ABSTRACT
The changing pattern of Guatemalan trade, fully integrated into the market structure of the United States extended domain, was officially given recognition through the 1935 Reciprocal Trade Treaty concluded between Guatemala and the United States. The participation of the university students, the members of the governing class, and the younger military in the successful October "revolution" of 1944 generated a populist expectancy for a return to constitutional government. A provisional junta took the reins of government to provide a transitory interlude that was supposed to culminate in the reestablishment of constitutional government. The provisional coalition forged in defense of constitutional government was in a unique position to create the supportive mechanisms needed for the election of Arbenz to the presidency. The functional objective of Arevalo's legislation was the mobilization and integration of rural and urban labor as a political force supportive of the government.
