State Terrorism in practice: The Guatemalan coup d’état in 1954

Abstract: This thesis challenges the idea that terrorism is only used by non-state actors. I argue states can and have used terrorism on multiple occasions because terrorism is simply a strategy of violence and can thus be used by anyone. Terrorisms most important feature is therefore not who the actor is, but what the aim of the violence is meant to accomplish. Terrorism is used to alter the behaviour of a group of people different than the one directly targeted. State terrorism serves the same purpose, there are only some minor differences because here the focus is on the state as perpetrator. In this paper I show not only that many definitions of terrorism aren’t actor-focused and thus don’t exclude the state as an actor, but also that state terrorism isn’t a completely foreign concept even though it’s seen as controversial. Through a theory elaborating case study I created a theoretical framework on state terrorism by using pre-existing definitions. This theoretical framework then helped me conclude the US involvement in the Guatemalan coup d’état in 1954 - where the CIA actively supported the rebel forces - is indeed a case of state terrorism.