Peru: Tia Maria Protests in Lima Turn Violent

Protests in Lima, Peru in support of the two-day general strike in six southern provinces against the Tia Maria mining project turned violent last night. Police fired into the air to disperse the crowds. The general strike took place in a third of the country's provinces. Export-oriented mining has long been a loggerheads with peasant-based agriculture in Peru, with popular anger directed against the government and large corporations, which explains the mass support for the general strike. Such social movements, however, are not reflected on an institutional level, thereby feeding the cycle of protests and repression. Rael Mora reports from Lima.