An unarmed, national strike drove President Jorge Ubico, Tyrant of Guatemala, from office last week.
Students began the movement, but it quickly spread through the population.
Shopkeepers closed their doors. Railroad workers quit. The people used little or no violence, for this was a strike of "brazos caidÃs" ("arms down"). The life of long terrorized Guatemala slowed to a deathly standstill.
Ubico used plenty of violence. His police and soldiers ranged the capital, threatening, killing. But the strike did not lose force. Day by day, like a fangless constrictor, it tightened its coils...
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