The Peruvian government says that on Monday it will lift a state of emergency imposed in early July for three provinces where violent protests against a gold mine project resulted in five deaths and dozens of injuries.
But the office of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala also says that security forces will remain on alert to guard against disturbances. Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed in the three provinces to quell protests against the proposed USD 8 billion Conga gold mine.
Poor farmers in the region fear the mine will hurt their water supplies and have been mounting sometimes violent protests since 2011.
The state of emergency suspended the right of assembly and other civil liberties in the three provinces.
The project’s majority owner is US-based Newmont Mining Co.
