Guerrilla Army of the Poor
In 1974 the insurgent guerrilla group held its first conference, and named itself the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres) (EGP). In 1975 the organization had spread around the area of the mountains of northern municipalities of Nebaj and Chajul. As part of its strategy EGP agreed to perform acts to seek notoriety and to symbolize the establishment of "social justice" against the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the judicial and administrative organs of the State. They saw also that with these actions the indigenous rural population of the region identified with the insurgency, thus motivating them joining their ranks. This plan included so-called "executions". To determine who would be these people subject to "execution", the EGP attended complaints received from the public. For example, they selected two victims: Guillermo Monzón, a military Commissioner in Ixcán, and José Luis Arenas, the largest landowner in the area of Ixcán, reported to the EGP for allegedly having land conflicts with neighboring settlements and abusing their workers.