Editing History of Guatemala (section)

===== Guerrilla Army of the Poor =====
{{Main|Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres}}
On 19 January 1972, members of a new Guatemalan guerrilla movement entered Ixcán from Mexico and were welcomed by many farmers. In 1973, after an exploratory mission into the municipal seat of Cotzal, the insurgent group decided to establish an underground camp in the mountains of Xolchiché, in the municipality of Chajul.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Caso No. 59|1999|p=1}}

In 1974, the insurgent guerrilla group held its first conference, during which it outlined its strategy for the coming months and named itself the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, EGP). By 1975, the organization had expanded its presence in the northern mountainous regions of the municipalities of Nebaj and Chajul. As part of its strategy, the EGP aimed to carry out actions that would gain public attention and symbolically represent the establishment of "social justice" against the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the State's judicial and administrative systems. The group believed these actions would encourage the indigenous rural population to identify with the insurgency and join their cause. As part of this plan, they initiated so-called "executions." The EGP selected their targets based on complaints received from the public. For example, they chose Guillermo Monzón, a military commissioner in Ixcán, and José Luis Arenas, the largest landowner in the Ixcán area, who had been reported for allegedly having land conflicts with neighboring communities and abusing workers.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Caso No. 59|1999|p=1}}<ref group=lower-alpha>José Luis Arenas, who at that time a journalist called "Ixcán Tiger" had been active in Guatemalan politics. He joined as Congress of Republic in the period of Jacobo Arbenz in the opposition; in 1952, he founded the Anti-communist Unification Party (AUP), which later became part of the liberationist movement; went into exile when the first armed clashes between the "Liberation Army" and the Guatemalan Army occurred, but returned with the victory of the National Liberation Movement and during the government of colonel [[Carlos Castillo Armas]] he held various public offices. In the presidential term of Carlos Arana Osorio (1970–1974) Arenas was in charge of the Promotion and Development of Petén (FYDEP). Later, he left politics for agriculture in his coffee and cardamom plantations in the Ixcán and Ixil, in [[Quiché (department)|Quiché]].</ref>

On Saturday, 7 June 1975, José Luis Arenas was killed by unknown assailants while at his farm "La Perla" to pay wage workers. Approximately two to three hundred people had gathered in front of his office to receive their payments, with four members of the EGP mingling among the farmers. The guerrillas then destroyed the farm's communication radio and executed Arenas. After the murder, the guerrilla members addressed the farmers in the Ixil language, identifying themselves as members of the Guerrilla Army of the Poor and stating that they had killed the "Tiger of Ixcán." They requested that animals be prepared to transport the injured to Chajul for medical treatment, after which they fled in that direction.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Caso No. 59|1999|p=1}}

José Luis Arenas' son, who was in San Luis Ixcán at the time, sought refuge in a nearby mountain while waiting for a plane to take him to the capital to report the incident to the Minister of Defense. The minister responded, "You are mistaken, there are no guerrillas in the area."{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Caso No. 59|1999|p=1}}