Peru's government has issued a 30 day state of emergency in an attempt to curb the anti-mining protest that has emerged against Xstrata's Tintaya copper mine in the mountainous southern region of Cusco.

Two people were killed and another forty injured, after clashes with police on Monday 28 May.

Florentina Huamani, a civilian involved in the protest, spoke of the abuse other women had suffered in the clashes.

"We are here in the struggle against all the bullets and all the bombs. Us women have gone head to head with the police and they have shamelessly kicked us and they have shamelessly beaten us with rocks."

Interior Minister Wilver Calle announced the action the government had taken to try and end the protests.

"To protect the security of all the residents in the area and the free transit of all Peruvians in the Cusco region, today, under a supreme decree, the government declares a state of emergency."

People are protesting against the mine because of the pollution it causes, asking the company to compensate by offering more to the local government. This is the second time the Peruvian government has issued a state of emergency in the last six months, after violent protests occurred last December over the Conga gold mining project.

Written & Narrated by Alfred Joyner