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| Police fire tear gas to
disperse highway protesters
May 9, 2002 LIMA, Peru (AP) - Police fired tear gas from helicopters to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked a major highway with rocks and burning tires Thursday on Peru's central coast, local leaders said. Hospital officials said at least 12 people were injured and 20 police officers were treated for fatigue after the confrontation on the Pan-American highway near Huarmey, 150 miles (250 kilometers) northwest of Lima, the capital. The protesters demanded that the national government allocate a larger share of an expected dlrs 105 million payment from a private mining project in the province to finance infrastructure works in their area. The mayor of Huarmey called a two-day general strike beginning Thursday to support the demands, Tomas Torrejon, a protest leader from the Huarmey Defense Front, said. The highway blockade tied up traffic along Peru's main coastal route. Protesters pelted several intercity buses with rocks as they moved through clouds of tear gas after the police scattered the demonstrators. Marino Huanuco, director of the Huarmey hospital, said "numerous" bus passengers were treated for nerves and dehydration. President Alejandro Toledo's government has been plagued by near daily protests in recent months as unions and grass-roots groups stage rallies in Lima and in other regions. Toledo's approval ratings have plunged from almost 60 percent after he took office in July to below 25 percent in this month's opinion polls. Those surveyed cite Toledo's perceived lack of fulfilling campaign promises and his contradictory statements as his main faults. Civic leaders in the southern provinces of Arequipa and Tacna have called for a general strike on May 14 to protest the privatization of two regional electric companies. The bidding for the concessions was scheduled for May 15. But Toledo told Dow Jones Newswires in New York on Thursday that the government has postponed the sale until June 15. Public school teachers have announced a national strike for May 14 to demand higher salaries.
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Chullo (Andean Hat)
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Visiting the "Callejon de Huaylas"
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