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One dead in Guatemala clash

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Posted: 9:57 PM EST (0257 GMT)


LOS ENCUENTROS, Guatemala (AP) -- At least one person was killed and 12 other peasants and police officers were injured Tuesday when protesters fired handguns, threw stones and erected barriers of burning tires to block a truck carrying equipment headed to a gold mine in northern Guatemala.

More than 750 police officers and soldiers, many wearing riot gear and flanked by an armored vehicle fitted with a massive metal scoop to clear the highway, were escorting the truck after residents of the provincial capital of Solola vowed to refuse to let it pass through their city.

Local officials initially granted permission for the mining equipment to move through the community, but changed their minds when they learned a Solola pedestrian bridge that leads over the highway would have to be taken apart, then later reassembled in order to allow the truck and its cargo of a towering metal cylinder, to pass.

The pedestrian bridge, built by residents who donated their time, has become a source of civic pride for many in Solola city, as well as the surrounding province of the same name. Locals have also objected to a gold mine located 60 miles (100 kilometers) to the north where the equipment is headed, saying activities there may be damaging the environment.

The truck originally began its journey from Guatemala City to the mine 185 miles (300 kilometers) to the north on December 6, but was forced to pull off the two-lane transnational highway and wait for weeks while authorities negotiated its trip through Solola.

Shortly before dawn Tuesday, the truck began its northward push again. Facing threats of violence, police and soldiers were ordered by Guatemala's government to help it complete the journey.

As the truck reached the town of Los Encuentros, located along an important interchange of highways 10 miles (15 kilometers) from Solola's outskirts, hundreds of protesters on either side of the highway pelted it with rocks and sticks and at least a few opened fire with guns, said Oscar Sanchez, a spokesman for the area's volunteer fire department.

Police ignited tear gas canisters and fired in the air to try and disperse the protesters. A 37-year-old farmer, Raul Castro, was killed and at least five other locals were injured, according to witnesses.

Sanchez said seven police officers had been transported to a hospital in the city of Chimaltenango to be treated for injuries.

The caravan was making a slow trek up the mountain highway late Tuesday, but its path continued to be impeded by a number of makeshift, burning roadblocks, he said.

Carlos Calju, a spokesman for the national police force, said authorities would continue to battle protesters until the mining equipment reached its destination.

"The order from the Interior Secretary is that the cylinder must move on," he said.

Speaking to reporters in Guatemala City before the protest turned deadly, President Oscar Berger said his government "had to establish the rule of law."

"We have to protect the investors," the president said.

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