A national strike by Peruvian indigenous people and labour unions ended in violence on Thursday when police used teargas to disperse a 10,000-strong crowd in the centre of Lima.

The protesters were opposing changes to land rights laws. The violence follows two months of protests by indigenous Amazonians in the oil- and gas-rich territories 1,000km north of the capital, culminating last week in the deaths of 23 police officers and at least 30 civilians, the worst violence the country has seen for decades.