Lima - The second day of nationwide protests by farmers in Peru spiralled into violence with two protestors shot by police and another falling to his death trying to elude tear gas shells. Transport was paralyzed in the departments of Ayacucho, Arequipa, Cusco and several other parts of the country because of the strike that began Monday, when police said one farmer was shot by an angry motorist.
Enrique Malaga, president of the National Board of Irrigation Users, called for a 48-hour truce to conduct talks with the government and allow transport to resume.
Malaga, whose organization was a principal leader of the strike, said most of the violence were provoked by people not related to the farmers unions. Agriculture Minister Ismael Benavides agreed with Malaga and said the violence was started by unidentified groups who were paid to foment chaos.
The unions called the strike to pressure the government for relief from the high price of fertilizer, a national law regulating water usage, access to credit and measures to alleviate the impact of a new trade agreement with the United States.
The mayor of Huamanga in Ayacucho in the central Andes said one of the protestors slain in the city by police Tuesday had three bullets in the back of the head while the other had two entry wounds in the skull.
Angry villagers stormed a police station after the shootings and destroyed several police vehicles. The central market was also sacked, Mayor German Marinelli said.
In the south Andes department of Arequipa, a 21-year-old farmer died when he fell 200 metres into an abyss while trying to escape from tear gas cannisters lobbed by riot police.
On Monday, a 27-year-old striking farmer was fatally shot by a passenger in a vehicle that was blocked by the demonstration, police said.
