On 27 June 1954 Árbenz resigned as a result of a U.S. sponsored coup. Carlos Enrique Díaz replaced him as president, at the head of a military junta, which also included Monzón, and Jose Angel Sánchez. On 29 June Díaz was forced to resign, and a new three-person junta, headed by Monzón, took power. Witnesses later stated that Díaz' removal took place at 4 AM in Díaz' home. U.S. diplomat John Peurifoy, who had also played a role in the coup, had summoned all three members of the military junta there, and Díaz had announced that he was resigning after a meeting with Peurifoy and Sánchez. Monzón then entered and announced that he was forming the new junta. Historian Piero Gleijeses stated that Peurifoy was rough with Díaz at the meeting, berating him for allowing Árbenz to criticize the U.S. in his resignation speech. Díaz later stated that Peurifoy had presented him with a list of names, and demanded that all of them be shot by the next day, because they were communists; Díaz had refused, turning Peurifoy further against him. Gleijeses maintains that Peurifoy compelled Díaz to allow Monzón to become president, as Monzón was more staunchly anti-communist. The other members of Monzón's junta were José Luis Cruz Salazar and Mauricio Dubois. "Life" magazine described Monzón as having "a more impressive anti-Communist record" than Díaz.