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Peru police, indigenous group clash at Pluspetrol
23 Mar 2008 02:32:35 GMT
 Source: Reuters
LIMA, March 22 (Reuters) - One police officer was killed and five others wounded in a clash with indigenous workers who took over a plant of the Argentine energy company Pluspetrol in Peru's Amazon, authorities and the company said on Saturday.

Violence broke out when police tried to "re-establish order" at Pluspetrol's operations at oil Block 1AB in the Loreto region of northern Peru, Roberto Ramallo, a company director, told local media. Police later retreated.

Pluspetrol halted operations at the facility early on Thursday after protesters demanding more money took it over, along with the local airport.

"It is my understanding that there were clashes in which one police officer died and others were injured," Manuel Figueroa, secretary of coordination for President Alan Garcia's ministerial council, told local radio.

Poor communities in Peru, which is rich in natural resources, often pressure mining and energy companies to build schools and hospitals, or provide jobs.

"The indigenous people want raises to 2,500 soles a month ($893 dollars) from 1,500 soles," a company official said of people who work on infrastructure projects in the area as part of a social development program overseen by Pluspetrol.

For every day of the suspension, Pluspetrol has said it will be able to pump only about half the 47,000 barrels it extracts from Peru's jungle each day.

Earlier this month, Pluspetrol was forced to suspend operations in its Block 8 after indigenous protesters held some company workers hostage. In January, it stopped some operations at Block 1AB because of protests involving social assistance.

Pluspetrol is one of Argentina's biggest natural gas producers and leads a consortium that pumps gas from Peru's massive Camisea field, in southern Peru, one of the largest reserves in South America. (Reporting by Teresa Cespedes; Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Peter Cooney)


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Argentine Air Force nurse Roxana Lucero (L) takes the blood pressure of Natalia Lopez, a visitor at Argentina's Marambio base in Antarctica, March 8, 2008. Life in Marambio base can be ...


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