flasback-mash.whiskey: Indigenous people strike back at exploitative Chinese mining operation in Peru http://coalmountain.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/two-die-in-attack-on-chinese-mine-in-peru/

Two workers died and two were missing after an attack on Chinese miner Zijin’s controversial Rio Blanco copper project in Peru, a sign the government’s push to lure foreign investment has polarized domestic politics. About 15 to 20 gunmen invaded the mining camp on Sunday and fired at its security guards, according to Jian Wu, Rio Blanco’s director. The two men killed were guards from a company called V-Sur, which provides security for Zijin. The armed gang also torched the site, Wu said.Police were still collecting evidence from the Rio Blanco attack, which may have been an act of revenge.

“This is evidently an act of terror, of violence … and it would not surprise me if there are political and economic interests at play to scare investment away, to create an image of political instability,” Wu said on Canal N TV.Residents in poor Peruvian towns, sometimes working with international environmental groups, often argue with foreign firms and the government over mining and oil projects in Peru, one of the world’s largest mineral exporters. Periodically, violence erupts.In September, an arm of Peru’s government that tracks social conflicts said that communities nationwide have organized to block 103 new mines or oil wells.The case of Rio Blanco has been especially bitter and critics say President Alan Garcia, whose approval rating is just 26 percent, has often ignored environmental concerns in his push to lure foreign investment.