LIMA: Police clashed with protesters fighting oil company operations in the Amazon, leaving one dead and 20 injured, police and local media reports said.
The protest in the village of Pichanaki in central Peru came Tuesday on the second day of a strike targeting oil operations that local people fear will contaminate rivers and soil.
Police confirmed a 25-year-old villager died early Wednesday but did not provide details on the cause of the death.
Protest organizers said he died from a gunshot wound suffered when a crowd tried to storm a military base being used as a storage area by the Argentine oil company Pluspetrol.
Police firing tear gas repelled the protesters, leaving 20 people injured.
The attempted raid came as local authorities began talks with government officials seeking a solution to their demands.
Local people want the government of President Ollanta Humala to live up to what they say is a campaign promise to stop oil exploration in the Amazon.
Pichanaki is cut off because buses are honoring the strike and blocking the only road into the town.
The government in Lima called for an end to any violence.
It said a meeting to inform the people of Pichanaki will be held February 17.
Since January Pluspetrol has been the target of protests by other Amazon indigenous communities seeking indemnization for what they believe is environmental damage.
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