Peru police fire tear gas to free isolated cities
Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:32am EDT
By Terry Wade
LIMA, June 16 (Reuters) - Peruvian riot police fired tear gas and pushed back protesters on Monday to clear a week-long blockade in a top mining region that has stranded thousands without food or fuel, the government and radio said.
Up to 5,000 residents of Moquegua have seized roads, including Peru's main highway to Chile, and cut off access to a mine and smelter of global mining company Southern Copper (PCU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(SPC.LM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the country's largest copper producer, to demand their province receive a bigger share of taxes paid by the company.
The police went in as President Alan Garcia's chief of staff, Jorge del Castillo, reiterated pleas to local political leaders to negotiate an end to the stand-off and blamed left-wing political groups for rejecting a settlement.
Garcia faces mounting pressure to quickly bring the benefits of an economic boom to the poor. Delays could erode support for his free-market programs.
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Peru's poverty rate, while falling, is nearly 40 percent. Residents in provinces like Moquegua say the economic boom has passed them by, even as mining companies reap huge profits.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1647653120080616?rpc=401&