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Description
An armed soldier near Chichicastenango looks at a street sign sponsored by the local Lions Club, which has been damaged with guerilla and anti-guerrilla graffiti. He is armed with an IMI Galil with a folded stock. The rifle is of Israeli origin. The street sign says, "Caution: Danger. Narrow bridge. Lions Club." The graffiti in white letters says, "Long Live the EGP" (Guerrilla Army of the Poor). The graffiti in black letters says, "Death to the EGP." Before the elections, the guerrilla made a call not to vote. Most soldiers forced to patrol as part of the "Patrol of Self-Defense" program in the 1980s were Mayan men. Patrols were used by the military to destroy civil organizing and to control any political networks of rural Mayans. The UN-administered Truth Commission, known as the Commission of Historical Clarification documented more tan 600 massacres committed by government forces against civilians in predominately Mayan areas between 1981 and 1983. Un soldado armado cerca de Chichicastenango mira un letrero patrocinado por el Club de Leones local, el cual ha sido dañado con grafiti con mensajes a favor y en contra de la guerrilla. El soldado porta un fusil IMI Galil con la culata plegada. El fusil es de origen israelí. letrero lee "Cuidado. Peligro. Puente angosto. Club de Leones". El grafiti en letras blancas dice: "Viva el EGP" (Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres). El grafiti en letras negras dice: "Muera el EGP". Antes de las elecciones, la guerrilla hizo un llamado a no votar. La mayoría de los soldados obligados a patrullar como parte del programa "Patrulla de Autodefensa" en los ochenta eran hombres mayas. Las patrullas fueron utilizadas por los militares para destruir la organización civil y controlar a cualquier red política de los mayas rurales. La comisión de la verdad administrada por la ONU, conocida como la Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico, documentó más de 600 masacres cometidas por fuerzas gubernamentales contra civiles en áreas predominantemente mayas entre 1981 y 1983.
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