At least 3 killed in Peru clashes between farmers, police

Clashes between police and farmers led to the death of at least three protesters Tuesday, as a strike against free trade and farm policies seethed for a second day, officials said. Two men died from gunshot wounds after police fired into a crowd of protesters in the Andean state of Ayacucho, opposition congresswoman Juana Huancahuari, former head of the Ayacucho Agrarian Federation, told Lima's CPN radio. A third man fell to his death down a rocky slope, apparently while fleeing tear gas and rocks hurled by police in the neighboring state of Arequipa, local media reported. Highway police chief Coronel Eduardo Arteta said officials were investigating the shooting.