Protests at Chinese copper mine in Peru continue after local leader freed
- Local community group has cut off access to MMG’s Las Bambas mine, halting its exports
- Company denies back-pedalling on compensation promises, says it is still open to negotiation
Peruvian police on Friday freed the leader of an indigenous community that has blocked roads to a major copper mine owned by a Chinese company, but hours later arrested his second-in-command, accusing him of running over police officers while driving drunk.
The release of Gregorio Rojas, the president of the Quechua-speaking community Fuerabamba, had been a key demand of Fuerabamba villagers who have cut off access to Chinese miner MMG Ltd’s mine Las Bambas, halting its exports.
Police had accused Rojas of belonging to a criminal organisation that tried to extort MMG. But a week after his arrest, he was freed in the capital Lima without charge.
News of Rojas’ release, however, failed to quell a protest by Fuerabamba villagers in Challhuahuacho, a highland town where the government declared an emergency earlier on Friday and authorised the military to restore order.
Protesters in Challhuahuacho who have camped out on a road near the entrance of Las Bambas vowed to remain there until Fuerabamba’s three lawyers – who were arrested with Rojas – were freed as well.