in turn tried to avoid detection by hiding in cities. The FAR responded by resorting to various assassinations and abductions during the late 1960's to early 1970's, like those of John Gordon Mein and Karl von Spreti. The tense security situation led both right-wing military factions, namely the MLN and PID to unify for the elections in 1970, to counter the reforms initiated under Méndez Montenegro, which the army perceived as infringing on their autonomy. The incoming government of Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio initiated another counterinsurgency to stifle the FAR and began to entrench the military in the Guatemalan economy, chiefly by establishing the Army Bank, which handed out loans to the officer corps. FAR splinters and government pressure As a consequence of the repression, a large contigent of the FAR came to the conclusion that they needed to change their strategy. Instead of continuing with the foco strategy of confronting the army in the countryside, which inflicted heavy losses on them, they saw the need to expand their social base to indigenous communities and middle class intellectuals and professionals. This perception gave rise to the Organization of People in Arms (ORPA) and Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP) in the early 1970's. The former was formed in 1971 as the Organización Regional de Occidente, as a branch of the FAR in western Guatemala, before splitting outright in mid 1972. The split was effectuated by their differences regarding organizational and ideological questions, particulary the role of ethnicity in the economic exclusion of indigenous people. The group underwent a gestation period of 8 years, operating clandestinely, mainly recruiting soldiers and accruing arms, before commiting their first operation in September 1979. The group would soon grow famous for acts of armed propaganda in this mold, wherein they disarmed the local police and military forces and read out revolutionary statements, while handing out propaganda leaflets. Similary the Guerrilla Army of the Poor was established in 1972, as a splinter of the FAR, caused by ideological questions akin to ORPA. This group was heavily influenced by liberation theology and build a large indigenous and Ladino following in El Quiché. Inmidst this situation the MLN-PID alliance broke down and the protégé of Arana Osorio, Fernando Romeo Lucas García of the PID was elected to the presidency. Lucas García tried to solidify his hold on power by integrating the Mano Blanca into the regular military and