Dozens hurt in Peru jungle census clash

LIMA, Peru - Dozens of people were hurt in clashes in Peru's central jungle between residents of two districts at loggerheads over territory in a new nationwide census, the mayor of one of the towns said today.

"The police aren't controlling anything," Cesar Quispe, mayor of Pangoa, told Reuters from the town hall, with loud shouts from a crowd outside audible in the background.

He said 79 people had been hurt by rocks in clashes between residents of the districts of Pangoa and Mazamari. Mazamari is the site of a police base from where US-trained officers conduct counternarcotics operations.

Peru's police chief, Marco Miyashiro, told RPP radio that 14 police officers and 15 civilians had been hurt.

Quispe said the disturbances between residents of the two districts, involving at least 5,000 people, began late on Tuesday.

A town hall official said about 4,000 people were still in Pangoa's main square late on Wednesday. Police earlier let off tear gas and shot in the air to try to break up the crowd.

At issue is whether 1,800 square km of land belong to Pangoa or to Mazamari.

Farid Matuk, head of Peru's National Statistics Institute, or INEI, which on Monday began its first nationwide census since 1993, said the issue had financial implications in terms of how much government cash is assigned.

Matuk said the land belonged to Mazamari according to the boundary set by a 1965 law.

In the 1993 census, the land was counted as belonging to Mazamari. But INEI has admitted that in the previous census, in 1981, it made a mistake and counted the land as belonging to Pangoa.

Pangoa residents' continued claim to the land sparked protests after the census began on Monday.

INEI temporarily halted the census in the two districts and sent a team to the region to try to settle the dispute.

Maria Quevedo, mayor of the province of Satipo, to which the two districts belong, left Pangoa town hall late on Wednesday after residents refused to let her leave for two days following her arrival to mediate the issue.

- REUTERS