MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Garcia/Chavez rift widens and ties could be severed

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Peruvian elected president Alan Garcia a United States “lap puppy” and put in doubt the outcome of the recent elections in Peru.

Speaking in Panama at the end of a two day official visit Mr. Chavez said "I believe that (nationalist populist candidate) Ollanta Humala won the elections in Peru", adding that as he had previously announced, there was no hope for improved relations between Venezuela and Peru and that his government was evaluating whether to completely sever ties.

President Chavez was responding to Mr. Garcia's Thursday remarks in Chile when he called the Venezuelan leader "a meddler in other countries' internal affairs, an interventionist who we had to endure during the recent election in Peru".

The Venezuelan president who has no qualms about using his huge oil resources and money to counteract United States influence in Latinamerica openly supported ultra nationalist Ollanta Humala in the Peruvian presidential election.

"Chavez's drive to extend his populist model and oil statism does not work in other countries of the region" pointed out Garcia. "Let us hope that Chavez's dominant, permanent and even overbearing presence in Bolivia does not cause problems between Brazil and Argentina or between Bolivia and Chile", added the elected Peruvian president.

The recent decision by Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close ally of both Chavez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, to take over hydrocarbon resources and force foreign corporations to become junior partners of Bolivian government owned oil company has led to frictions with Argentina and Brazil who are Bolivia's main natural gas clients.

Chavez retorted that when Garcia "talks like that, it's not him talking, it's Bush ... who is his master". Garcia is a "tool of imperialism, and his master is in Washington; he's a lap puppy".

Chavez went on to warn García not to try and create problems between him and his counterparts from Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; Argentina, Nestor Kirchner; and Chile, Michelle Bachelet.

"If he thinks he's going to instigate a fight between Lula and Chavez, everyone has failed and everyone is going to fail; if he thinks that he can make Kirchner and Chavez fight, he's going to crash and burn; if he thinks he can get Chavez to fight with Bachelet, which is what Bush wants, he's acting as Mr. Danger's instrument".

Finally President Chavez insisted that "Ollanta won the (June) election in Peru", pointing out that Garcia's alleged victory was by 600.000 votes, "but 1.2 million ballots were disqualified and voided". "I'm saying that Garcia's legitimacy is very dubious".