Photo: Peruvian President Ollanta Humala with South Korea’s President Park Geun-Hye at a military airbase in Lima on Tuesday. Humala’s government has pushed hard for the Tia Maria mine.
LIMA, Peru— Protests against a proposed copper mine in southwestern Peru continued this week, leaving one protester dead and two more wounded Tuesday, the national police and the office of the nation’s ombudsman said.
Since late March, farmers, anti-mining activists and local politicians have blocked roads with rocks to impede traffic and held marches, aiming to forceSouthern Copper Corp. to cancel its $1.4 billion Tia Maria copper project. The national police force has responded by trying to open roads and keep order in the province of Islay.
The nation’s ombudsman said that Jenrry Checya Chura, 35, died Tuesday in a protest, although the cause hasn’t been clearly established so far.
Since the protests began 44 days ago there have been two deaths, and 111 police officers have been injured alongside 75 civilians, the ombudsman said in a statement. A 61-year-old man died last month after being shot in the leg during a protest.
“We are demanding an immediate investigation in respect to the death of Mr. Checya Chura and a convincing explanation about the behavior of members of the national police in the province of Islay, especially concerning the use of force,” the ombudsman said, calling on a peaceful solution to the protests.
A national police spokeswoman said Tuesday that 140 police officers have been hurt in clashes with protesters since the demonstrations began on March 23. Television reports have shown burned vehicles as well as damage to a police station and a police helicopter from the protests.
Protesters say the mine would hurt farmers because it would use too much water and create dust that would be harmful to crops on farms in a valley close to the mine site. Southern Copper says it will use desalinated water from the ocean instead of tapping local water supplies, and that dust from mining won’t reach crops.
Disputes have caused delays in mining projects in recent years in Peru, one of the world’s largest gold, silver, copper and zinc producers, including at the $5 billion copper and gold mine project known as Minas Conga.
Construction of that project, majority owned by Newmont Mining Corp., is on hold while the company constructs water reservoirs.
The Tia Maria copper project was originally put on hold in 2011 after protests led to three deaths, but was revived after the company reworked its environmental impact study, which the government approved last year.
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Jose Luis Perez Guadalupe condemned the violence, saying the police are obliged to disperse protesters to keep roads open to traffic. The government has said police are under orders to avoid using lethal force.
The government has sent thousands of officers to the area to keep order, including another 600 this week, according to government officials.
Jaime de la Cruz, mayor of Dean Valdivia, a district near the proposed mine site, said local residents plan to continue protesting as long as it takes to shut down the project. “The people have spoke and the protests will continue,” he said in an interview.
Southern Copper, majority owned by Grupo Mexico, has said it plans to dig out 120,000 metric tons of copper a year from mid-2017. The government has approved the company’s environmental impact study, but still hasn’t issued a license for construction.
Southern Copper’s vice president for finance, Raul Jacob, said in a recent conference call with analysts that there is no firm date for when the company will receive a construction license.
Government officials have been trying to organize talks with local community leaders, but Prime Minister Pedro Cateriano has said that the protests must end before any agreement to listen to the demands made by the protesters can take place.