When I arrived in Dayuma in August 2017, I was hoping to speak to the settlers who had first colonized the region, as part of my research on the recent history of the Ecuadorian Amazon. But as I passed the gates of the production complex, I could see a demonstration taking place outside. And within hours of my arrival I found myself caught up in the midst of a labor dispute, which quickly escalated into a more serious and generalized conflict, involving the detention of the strike organizers, the kidnapping of the construction company manager, the blockading of the production complex, the launch of a military operation to break the blockade, the revelation of a plot to assassinate the leaders of the uprising, and the unleashing of a fluid and rapidly evolving battle against seemingly impossible odds that was destined to achieve a remarkable victory.
