Francisco Javier Arana

Francisco Javier Arana Castro was a Guatemalan military leader and one of the three members of the revolutionary junta that ruled Guatemala from 20 October 1944 to 15 March 1945 during the early part of the Guatemalan Revolution. A major in the Guatemalan army under the dictator Jorge Ubico, he allied with a progressive faction of the army to topple Ubico's successor Federico Ponce Vaides. He led the three-man junta that oversaw the transition to a democratic government, although he was personally reluctant to allow the elected President Juan José Arévalo to take office in 1945. He served as the Chief of the Armed Forces in the new government until 1949. On 18 July 1949 he was killed in a shootout with supporters of the Arévalo government after he threatened to launch a coup.

5 December 1905

Born on the same birth date (5 December 1905): Otto Preminger

Born on the same birth day (5 December): Ann Nolan Clark • Arik Benado • C. R. Swart • Catherine Tate • Clyde Cessna • Danny Levi • Eva Joly • Falilat Ogunkoya • Frankie Muniz • Gwen Lister • Jim Messina (musician) • Jim Plunkett • Kim Simmonds • Laura Flanders • Nivek Ogre • Pieter Oud • W. D. Amaradeva • Yi-Fu Tuan

Born in the same month (December 1905): Alex Wilson (Canadian sprinter) • Anthony Powell • Cliff Arquette • Kenneth Rexroth • Käte Fenchel • Mohammad Hidayatullah • Otto Preminger • Piet Hein (scientist)