Mine clashes kill 2 in Peru
At least two people were killed in Peru when police used tear gas to put down a violent demonstration against Swiss-owned Xstrata staged by striking miners and townspeople, officials said.
Prime Minister Oscar Valdes declared a state of emergency late Monday, saying it was needed to "safeguard public security and allow free transit" after the two were killed and a provincial prosecutor was briefly kidnapped.
Fifty people were wounded on Monday, including 30 police, according to Interior Minister Wilver Calle.
Hundreds of demonstrators had lugged tree trunks and boulders into roads in the Espinar area of Cusco in southern Peru to protest what they say is the mining company's pollution of the Salado and Canipia Rivers.
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