Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still angry and incredulous over the fact that Ollanta Humala, his prefered candidate for President of Peru, was rejected by Peruvian voters in favour of Alan Garcia.  He claims that the election was fixed, a charge rejected by Peru's government and international observers.

During a visit to Panama, Mr. Chavez called Mr. Garcia “a lap dog” of Washington and said the president-elect's June 4 victory over nationalist Ollanta Humala was “dubious.”

“I was left with many doubts. I think Ollanta won the election,” Mr. Chavez said, adding Mr. Garcia's victory might have been the result of fraud at voting stations during the tabulation of ballots.

Peru's Foreign Ministry on Saturday noted the election was deemed free and fair by election monitors from the European Union and the Organization of American States. The OAS congratulated Peru on the transparency of the vote, which Mr. Garcia won by a 53-47 per cent margin, the ministry noted.

Chavez's attempts to interfere in Peru's election were so blatant that he and Mr Garcia ended up exchanging insults in the media.  Both countries finally recalled their ambassadors.  Imagine the outcry if President Bush were to endorse and overtly campaign on behalf of a particular candidate in a Canadian or British election—and then, after his guy had lost, publicly harangued the winner with charges of election fraud.

Mr Garcia suggests to reporters that Mr Chavez is demented.

“You must leave him (Chavez) to his psychological problems."

That may well be true but, even so, Chavez is a megalomaniac with imperial delusions and scads of oil revenue to match.  Mr Garcia would be well advised to watch his back.

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