By RACHEL KUROWSKI, Associated Press – Fri Oct 16, 2009

(AP:LIMA, Peru) Police say that rock-throwing protesters have killed a police officer and injured another at a shuttered U.S.-owned smelter.

Doe Run Peru closed the plant in June after lenders cut credit. The company says it can only resume operations if the government gives it more time to clean up La Oroya, one of the most polluted places on earth.

The company already missed a 2006 cleanup deadline it agreed to when it bought the smelter in 1997.

Workers are demanding a government deal to reopen the smelter. The officers died in a protest on Tuesday.

The Denial of My Parole

counterpunch.org Sept. 11-13, 2009

By LEONARD PELTIER