On July 3rd Peru's largest labor confederation, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) called for rallies and marches to push for an increase in wages, salaries, and pensions, and to show support for the communities of the Tambo Valley in southern Peru who have been resisting the attempts by the government and Southern Copper Corporation and Newmont Mining expand the Tia Maria copper mine.
A large part of the rural communities of the Tambo Valley residents fear the mine expansion will be detrimental to their health and to the local economy, polluting water supplies and damaging pastures. They charge that the environmental impact assessment was haphazard and that the government rushed through its approval process with minimal review.
After protests turned ugly following a number of documented abuses committed by on-duty police as well as off-duty police hired by the company to quell protests, the government sent in troops and imposed a state of emergency on several southern provinces, limiting freedom of assembly and placing some communities under night-time curfews.
On July 9th several thousand people gathered in Lima's Plaza Dos de Mayo, a traditional spot for such events, in front of the CGTP offices.
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