SUMMARY
EGP (Ejécito Guerrillero de los Pobres: Guerrilla Army of the Poor), initially known as NORC (Nueva Organización Revolucionaria de Combata: The New Revolutionary Combat Organization) was a guerrilla group involved in an intrastate conflict against the Government of Guatemala. Parts of EGP’s leadership had a history in fellow leftist Guatemalan rebel group FAR I. The group first appeared on 19 January 1972 but became gradually more active during the mid-1970s.
The group’s commander in chief was Rolando Morán (1921 - 1998), although its main initiators were César Montes (previously active in FAR I) and Valentín Ramos, though the latter was killed in the beginning of 1976.
In March 1967 Rolando Morán, published the March Document in Havana; which critiqued FAR I and previous insurgencies, which preceded him starting to lay the foundations for EGP in 1968. Later on Montes articulated what was to become a core ideological foundation for the group, namely to mobilize the rural population – particularly EGP believed that the poor indigenous population should be the fundament for the revolution, why it attempted to establish itself in areas characterized by higher numbers of indigenous people. Hence the EGP merged the Marxist-Leninist understanding of class struggle with ethnic issues in Guatemala, adding a certain intersectional approach to its anti-imperialistic and anti-capitalistic nationalism. Furthermore, EGP advocated democratic centralism and was relatively hierarchical as an organization. The EGP was estimated to have consisted of approximately 750 members during its peak and it differed from previous groups as it attempted to broaden its support base to also include the indigenous population. Yet, it also consisted of members from the Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo (PGT, the Guatemalan Party of Labour), FAR I (especially from its Frente Guerrillero Edgar Ibarra which had received training in Cuba), members of PGT’s youth organization JPT, but also Catholic students belonging to a group called CRATER which supported peasants in Huehuetenango. Following an offensive launched by the Government of Guatemala by the end of 1981, EGP suffered a major defeat. It has been suggested that this was the result of poor coordination between fronts, internal disputes and a shortage of weapons, simultaneously as some members left for Nicaragua.
As the EGP’s ideology strongly opposed capitalism, sugar plantations were burned which was explained as a way to undermine the economy of those who were perceived as oppressors. The latter occurred in Tulula, Mirandilla, Magdalena, La Unión and El Salto. Besides activities in the countryside, the group was also active near Guatemala City and Zacapa. EGP established a strategy consisting of three phases of revolutionary warfare; during the first, armed propaganda and implantation was its main focus, the second called for an expansion of the guerrilla warfare whereas the last phase were expected to include mass disputes over terrain and power. One of its main sources of funding was through engaging in kidnappings, mainly targeting industrialists. Additionally, EGP has been described as considerably violent in comparison to other groups active during the same period in the country. Yet, one key feature of the EGP was its focus to give rise to a social movement, hence, not solely concentrating on the armed struggle. In practice, this was articulated in three categories of organization; militants, collaborators and supporters, in effect constituting its organizational pillars. EGP is considered to have peaked during 1980-1981 when it operated 7 fronts and gained high levels of popular support.
On 8 February 1982, EGP joined forces with ORPA, FAR I, and FAR II and created URNG, an umbrella organization established to coordinate their revolutionary activities. With that, EGP ceased to exist as an independent actor in UCDP data.
