Leader of Miners Union Slain in Peru; Protest Strike Called
Gunmen shot and killed the powerful leader of Peru’s miners, and his Communist-led labor movement Tuesday blamed the government and called a national strike to protest the slaying.
Saul Cantoral, 43, who led two crippling nationwide mining strikes last year, and a woman companion were slain Monday night on a deserted street in a Lima slum, police said.
It was not known if Cantoral, secretary general of the 60,000-strong Peruvian Miners and Metallurgical Workers Federation, was slain by Marxist Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels or a new paramilitary death squad, the Rodrigo Franco Command. Both groups claimed responsibility, according to newspaper reports.
Sendero Luminoso has been fighting for nine years to topple the elected government of Peru. The government says more than 12,000 people have died in the insurgency.
The Rodrigo Franco Command, named after a government official slain by Sendero Luminoso, has vowed to kill leftist guerrillas and their supporters.
Federation President Moises Palomino said the union is calling a 24-hour strike to coincide with Cantoral’s burial Thursday.
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