Two Mine Workers Freed in Peru Protest

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Two Mine Workers Freed in Peru Protest

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LIMA - Two workers at a British-run copper project in northern Peru have been freed after being held for several days by protesters, police said on Tuesday.

Three foremen at Monterrico Metals Plc's Rio Blanco site on Peru's border with Ecuador were abducted late last week in the wake of protests against the $800 million project, that the company says will be Peru's No. 2 copper mine.

"Of the three workers who were being held, two were freed late on Monday and are at home. They had been beaten up and had whip wounds from the waist down," regional police chief Ricardo Benavides told Reuters.

The fate of the third foreman was unknown.

Thousands of protesters, alleging mining will contaminate coffee crops and water supplies for farmers across the region, marched on Rio Blanco late last month determined to drive the miners out. One man died in violence last week.
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Some 500 police are still guarding the project. Protesters are still sporadically blocking nearby roads.

The Rio Blanco protest is the latest violent protest against mining, the most lucrative industry in Pero, the world's No. 3 copper producing country. The government and the company say left-wing activists are whipping up protests for political ends.

Monterrico, which has invested $20 million in exploration at Rio Blanco and is conducting a feasibility study, says it remains committed to the project.


Story Date: 10/8/2005

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© Reuters News Service 2005