Devils Don't Dream!(1997)

Devils Don't Dream! is a documentary that traces the rise and fall of Jacobo Arbenz, Guatemala's reformist president. After leading a successful 1944 revolt against military dictatorship, Arbenz was elected in 1950 and began delivering on his promises—redistributing land to peasants in what he called "the first act of justice since colonial times." But as Cold War tensions escalated, the U.S. government turned against him. Vice President Richard Nixon denounced Arbenz as a foreign puppet, despite his Swiss heritage and genuine popular support. The film documents his swift overthrow, exile, and the humiliating image of the deposed leader stripped to his underwear before photographers—a portrait that circled the globe. Devils Don't Dream! reveals how geopolitical fear and economic interests dismantled a democratic experiment in Central America.