Protests erupted in two cities in southern Peru on Friday after the government forged ahead with the privatization of two state-owned electricity companies.
Demonstrators holding stones and poles shout slogans during a protest Friday at Plaza de Armas in Arequipa, 465 miles southeast of Lima, Peru. Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered in the colonial plaza chanting slogans against President Alejandro Toledo and tearing up stone bricks from the cobblestone streets.
The demonstrators filled the plaza after the government announced in Lima, the capital, that it had sold an electricity-generating company in Arequipa and another in neighboring Tacna to Tractebel, a Belgian company, for $167 million.
Protesters carry an injured woman after clashes with police during a protest in Plaza de Armas.
Peruvian Congressman Arturo Valderrama, left, interrupts the controversial auction of two state-owned electricity companies in Lima, Peru Friday, June 14. Energy and Mines Minister Jaime Quijandria, center, complains in the background. Wearing a white bib with "Hunger Strike" written in red, Valderrama, of the main opposition APRA party, slipped past 30 police into the hall to hand out documents slamming the sale as officials were poised to announce the winner. The sale took place despite weeks of delays, strong protests and work stoppages in the southern regions where the companies are located.
Valderrama started a hunger strike Tuesday to protest the privatization.