Indigenous maya Q’eqchi authorities have been peacefully resisting a nickel mine that, according to a Constitutional Court ruling, has been operating illegally since 2005. Known as the Fenix Project, the mine is a Russian-Swiss joint venture that threatens the surrounding communities’ ancestral territories. Following the start of a pre-consultation process by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MEM) that excludes legitimate indigenous authorities, community members established a peaceful encampment to block the passage of supply trucks headed for the mine. For weeks, security forces had employed a strategy of terror and intimidation against leaders and journalists that has grown into a state of siege imposed on the community and has resulted in human rights violations.