Commonly referred to as "the store" in English by British merchants Skinner & Kleé, the name evolved most likely to its present form due to Spanish-speakers style of pronunciation and spelling.

[4] El Estor was established as a settlement on 29 October 1886, given the remote location it was, relative to Livingston, Izabal; president Manuel Lisandro Barillas also appointed a commissioner and a Judge of Peace for the region, with a monthly salary of 40 pesos.

[6] The Northern Transversal Strip was officially created during the government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970, by Decree 60-70 in the Congress, for agricultural development.

As soon as the general Carlos Arana Osorio took office on 1 July 1970, he reopened the case and began working in for EXMIBAL to get a concession; however, many social sectors opposed to it, arguing that it would be too costly for the country.

[10] The commission members had strongly opposed the conditions proposed by the Government to grant the concession EXMIBAL; after the attack against Bauer Paiz and Carney, on 13 February 1971 Mijangos López was assassinated by unknown assailants as he left his office long the 4th Avenue in Zone 1 of the Guatemala City.

[9] On 8 May 1971, Arana Osorio's administration finally granted the concession to EXMIBAL;[9] it covered 385 square kilometers in the area of El Estor, with and initial investment of US$228 million.

The mine, built in the mountains of indigenous maya Q'eqchi people, included a residential complex of 700 homes, numerous offices, a hospital, a small shopping center, school, a golf course and a large area for industrial processing.

Therefore, the fundamental characteristic of the Guatemalan production system has since that time been the accumulation of property in few hands,[13] and a sort of "farm servitude" based on the exploitation of "farmer settlers".

[15] In 1964, several communities settled for decades on the shore of Polochic River claimed property titles to INTA which was created in October 1962, but the land was awarded to Flavio Monzón.

The peasants began to suffer evictions from their land by farmers, the military and local authorities in favor of the economic interests of Izabal Mining Operations Company (EXMIBAL) in El Estor and Transmetales.

Some of these owners -among them Flavio Monzón- stated: "Several peasants living in the villages and settlements want to burn urban populations to gain access to private property", and requested protection from Alta Verapaz governor.

[c] On 29 May 1978, peasants from Cahaboncito, Semococh, Rubetzul, Canguachá, Sepacay villages, finca Moyagua and neighborhood La Soledad, decided to hold a public demonstration in the Plaza de Panzós to insist on the claim of land and to express their discontent caused by the arbitrary actions of the landowners and the civil and military authorities.