WEEKLY SITUATION REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 15771760
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: January 23, 2020
• Case Number: F-2016-02132
• Publication Date: November 30, 1976

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Weekly Situation Report
on
International Terrorism
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30 November 1976
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30 November 1976
Guatemalan Guerrilla Group Occupies American Oil Camp
On 26 November approximately 25 men and women belonging
to the Guatemalan Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP) occupied
a field camp of the American Shenandoah Oil Company located
in northern Guatemala near the Mexican border. The EGP
entered and took control of the site early in the morning
while company employees were still asleep. The guerrillas
were armed with rifles and other weapons. Two hours later a
Guatemalan air force helicopter, used by Shenandoah to
resupply its field camps, unexpectedly arrived and began to
land even though radio contact with the camp had been broken.
The guerrillas waited until the helicopter was almost on the
ground, then opened fire and forced it to finish landing.
One of the craft's three crew members was slightly injured,
the only casualty in the incident.
Shortly after the arrival of the helicopter, the EGP
group separated the Guatemalan and American employees and
began a propaganda indoctrination session which was inter-
rupted some time later by a second helicopter, sent by the
Shenandoah base camp when it was unable to contact the first
helicopter. This helicopter was fired upon and slightly
damaged, but managed to escape and land at a small village
about ten miles away. From this location government troops
were contacted and yet another helicopter, this time carrying
troops with orders to capture the guerrillas, was dispatched
to the field camp. However, owing to the delay in the
arrival of the troops, the guerrillas had time to destroy
the first helicopter and the camp radio, then steal food
supplies, a radio, and a camera before making a clean escape.
This is the second instance when EGP members have
occupied a Shenandoah field camp for a limited period of
time, then escaped without injuring camp members or being
injured themselves. The first instance occurred during the
summer of 1975.
The commander of the first helicopter, a lieutenant
colonel in the Guatemalan air force, said he believed that
three of the guerrillas were Americans and one was a Cuban,
judging from accents and insignia. However, there is no
proof that any but Guatemalan terrorists were involved in
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30 November 1976
this incident. The Guatemalan government has sent two com-
panies of troops to patrol and protect the area.
The EGP grew out of one of the small terrorist splinter
groups that once formed the Revolutionary Armed Forces,
Rebelde faction, in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The
EGP is a leftist, terrorist organization Whose strength is
currently estimated to be over 100 members, and it is still
growing. Led by Julio Cesar Macias Mayora, alias Cesar
Montes, the EGP has been credited with political assas-
sinations, firebombings, and_robb_e_r_ie_sin.and
urban areas of Guatemala.
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30 November 1976
CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ACTS
Date: 26 November 1976 Guatemalan Terrorists Occupy
U.S.-owned Oil Company Camp
Place: Guatemala Approximately 25-50 members
of the Guatemalan Army of the
Poor (EGP) terrorist group
temporarily occupied a U.S.-
owned and manned drilling
camp of the Shenandoah Oil
Company in northwestern
Guatemala on 26 November.
The guerrillas seized the
Guatemalan and American staff
at the camp and fired on a
Guatemalan Air Force heli-
copter which appeared on the
scene, wounding one of the
crew. Upon the arrival of a
second helicopter, the terror-
ists released their captives
and fled. (See Articles.)
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