would participate in settlement talks before two retired Colorado judges. But the mediation talks failed to produce a settlement and eleven hundred campesinos, announced they would go ahead with their suit in Denver district court. In 2008, the Peruvian Supreme Court upheld the validity of settlement agreements reached with some of the plaintiffs in the remaining Peruvian lawsuits prior to the filing of those suits. the parties in the Denver cases agreed to binding arbitration and settled. By the beginning of 2010, Newmont reported that claims of approximately 200 plaintiffs remained unsettled. The mercury spill had also led to two separate complaints to the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Starting in 2001 the CAO held a series of meetings with local stakeholders who raised concerns regarding the impacts of the mine, and made suggestions for transparent dialogue between the community and Yanacocha. A Mesa (roundtable for dialogue) was formed. The CAO sponsored the 2003 water study, and the water monitoring program until 2006. In February 2006 the CAO concluded its involvement and published an "Exit Report" which included a table summarizing progress made against the original concerns raised by the community in 2001. At the beginning of August 2006, protests broke out against the expansion of the company's Carachugo pit, building a dam (El Azufre) near the village of Combayo. Residents of Combayo blocked the roads leading to the dam, protesting against possible contamination of water supplies and expressed their disappointment in sharing in social and economical benefits of the mining project. The protests ended in clashes between Police and private Yanacocha security guards (FORZA) on the one hand and local farmers on the other. Several people were wounded and Isidro Llanos Canvar, a local farmer, was shot dead. At the end of August 2006, Carachugo II was closed for three days as local farmers blocked the entrance roads to the pit demanding clarification of the death of Isidro. On 2 November 2006, Edmundo Becerra Corina, an environmentalist and opponent of Yanacocha's gold mining project, was shot dead in Yanacanchilla, Cajamarca province. He had received several death threats because of his opposition to the expansion of the mining company's activities in the region. The attack took place days before he was due to meet with representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines. The Peruvian NGO GRUFIDES, an environmental organization with a