Arbenz's land law took 234,000 acres from United Fruit; after the 1954 coup the junta seized the Arbenz family farm, and Guatemala apologised to his family in 2011

Decree 900, signed on 17 June 1952, made uncultivated land on large estates subject to redistribution, paid for in 25-year bonds at the value the owner had declared for tax. On 26 February 1953 President Jacobo Árbenz ordered the expropriation of about 234,000 acres of United Fruit Company land near Tiquisate, paid in agrarian bonds. A further 172,532 acres near Bananera followed in February 1954. United Fruit was offered $627,572, its own declared value; on 20 April 1954 the United States presented a formal claim on its behalf, reported at $15,854,849. Árbenz's own land, about 1,700 acres, was also taken^†. On 27 June 1954 a coup led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas and directed by the CIA overthrew him. The family went into exile. The junta's Decrees 2 and 68 seized their property, including Finca El Cajón, which was later split into small lots. Castillo Armas reversed most of the redistribution. Árbenz died in exile on 27 January 1971; his remains came home in 1995. Guatemala's Constitutional Court struck down the seizure decrees in 1996 and 2006. On 19 May 2011 the state signed a settlement with his son: it accepted responsibility, paid an undisclosed sum, and promised to return any state-held part of El Cajón or pay more. On 20 October 2011 President Álvaro Colom asked the Arbenz Vilanova family's forgiveness at the National Palace.