Peru mine protesters say 7 dead; police deny story

[struggle4progress]

03 Aug 2005 20:58:42 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Recasts with police comment)
By Eduardo Orozco

LIMA, Peru, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Leaders of a protest against a major British-run copper mining project in northern Peru said on Wednesday police were stopping them from recovering the bodies of seven people they said died in clashes, but police denied the death toll as "totally false".

Police have confirmed one death in the dispute over Monterrico Metals Plc's <MNA.L> Rio Blanco remote site on the border with Ecuador which began last week and turned violent on Monday.

The company says the project could be Peru's No. 2 copper mine and boost national output by a quarter from 2008. But protesters say their coffee crops, water and land are at risk.

The company, government and local officials were to hold talks brokered by a local bishop later in the day. <snip>

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03719852.htm

[wli]

1. are there any reports on casualties from US WTO protests?

This being casualties including injuries.