The strike was called by Calama's own mayor, Eliecer
Chamorro, after several violent incidents earlier this week,
including an armed attack on a police office, left two dead and
five injured.
According to Carabineros police, incendiary barricades,
protesters and detained trucks blocked other routes as well,
towards the airport and in the direction of the coastal city of
Antofagasta, a major urban centre in northern Chile.
(Reporting by Natalia Ramons; Writing by Natalia Siniawski;
Editing by Mark Porter)
SANTIAGO, April 21 (Reuters) - Chile's state-owned
Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, on Friday said a
demonstration against insecurity and crime in the neighbouring
mining city of Calama has blocked access to its large deposits
in that northern part of the country.
"Codelco informs that since approximately 4:30 a.m. (0830
GMT) this morning, the accesses to the Chuquicamata, Radomiro
Tomic, Gabriela Mistral and Ministro Hales divisions have been
blocked," the state-owned company said in a statement.
After midnight, the northern Chilean city began a strike to
protest crime violence, in the midst of a worsening public
security crisis in the country that is hitting the northern
regions bordering Peru and Bolivia the hardest.
"We are a company in the municipality of Calama and our
workers are part of this community, so we understand the unease
and concern of the citizens about crime, of which we have also
been victims as an organisation," he added in his statement.
Codelco said, however, that the blockades "put
infrastructure and critical equipment at risk, which could
affect the future development of our operations" as it affects
both workers who have finished their shifts and those who are
due to start their shifts.
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