On the evening of June 19, the Peruvian government and labor representatives for mine workers struck a preliminary deal to end the strike, based on eight points that had not been disclosed at the time of this writing. Protesters march across Montalvo's bridge, Moquegua, June 16. Zenon Cuevas, the leader of the Front for the Defense of Monquegua, told reporters, "We’re going to invoke the population to lift the strike only as we hear our demands have been accepted in Lima." Cuevas disclosed that most of the demands were for social projects to be built immediately in the poorest areas of the region to help the most vulnerable. The strikers demand that the mining conglomerate Southern Copper give the workers a larger percentage of profits. The value of mining exports in Peru this year will reach over $15 billion, of which only $430 million will be given to the Peruvian state to help curtail the immeasurable environmental damage and assist education and health care systems. Thousands of striking mine workers and community supporters marched in the southern Peruvian regions of Monquegua and Tacna on June 16. During clashes with the police, 14 people were wounded, including eight police officers. Workers took more than 60 cops into custody, holding them at the local church until the strikers’ demands were heard. Peru’s right-wing media vilified the workers by labeling them kidnappers, but none other than Police General Alberto Jordan, o ...
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On the evening of June 19, the Peruvian government and labor representatives for mine workers struck a preliminary deal to end the strike, based on eight points that had not been disclosed at the time of this writing. Protesters march across Montalvo's bridge, Moquegua, June 16. Zenon Cuevas, the leader of the Front for the Defense of Monquegua, told reporters, "We’re going to invoke the population to lift the strike only as we hear our demands have been accepted in Lima." Cuevas disclosed that most of the demands were for social projects to be built immediately in the poorest areas of the region to help the most vulnerable. The strikers demand that the mining conglomerate Southern Copper give the workers a larger percentage of profits. The value of mining exports in Peru this year will reach over $15 billion, of which only $430 million will be given to the Peruvian state to help curtail the immeasurable environmental damage and assist education and health care systems. Thousands of striking mine workers and community supporters marched in the southern Peruvian regions of Monquegua and Tacna on June 16. During clashes with the police, 14 people were wounded, including eight police officers. Workers took more than 60 cops into custody, holding them at the local church until the strikers’ demands were heard. Peru’s right-wing media vilified the workers by labeling them kidnappers, but none other than Police General Alberto Jordan, o ...