From Al-Jazeera:
Hundreds of angry demonstrators have taken nine police hostage in southern Peru, amid a string of protests against President Alan Garcia.
Police said that some 1,000 protesters had blocked the highway, some 1,100km south of the capital Lima on Friday, to demand the government invest in the region.
The protesters also expressed support for public teachers’ strike that started this week.
“The protesters surrounded a group of nine police that were lifting a road blockage on the Arequipa-Puno road, and took them hostage,” a police officer said.
“They (protesters) tied them up, and they are still being held by the mob,” he added.
Local media reported that protest leaders want to swap the hostages for 14 demonstrators detained earlier.
Meanwhile, hundreds of public teachers took to the streets of Lima on Friday to demand the government withdraw an education reform plan, which they say will leave hundreds of teachers unemployed.