LIMA, Jan. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The diplomatic row between Peru and Venezuela flared up again on Wednesday after the presidents of both countries took their disagreement to the media.

    Peru's Alejandro Toledo told Peruvian media that Hugo Chavez "is the president of Venezuela not all Latin America."

    "He can have all the petrodollars he wants, but that does not give him the right to destabilize the region," Toledo stated.

    Toledo was referring to Chavez's public support of Ollanda Humala, a former Peruvian army commander, who is running in Peru's presidential elections scheduled for April 9, at a press conference last week.

    "I thought that this matter was heading for a resolution because of the statements Venezuela had published from the foreign ministry and its embassy in Peru, but yesterday it was revived," Toledo added.

    Last Thursday, Peru recalled its ambassador from Caracas in protest against what Lima called interference in its internal affairs.

    The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry claimed that Chavez's speech "can in no way be interpreted as interference by Venezuela in the affairs of the Republic of Peru," adding that it expected relations between the two countries would not be strained by the incident.

    Chavez, however, reignited the spat on Tuesday as he criticized Lourdes Flores, candidate of Peru's pro-market National Unity party, calling her "the candidate of the oligarchy."

    Also on Tuesday, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry published an open letter, saying that the Venezuelan president must respect Peru's domestic politics and avoid interfering in matters which do not concern him.

    Humala, of Peru's Nationalist Uniting Party, is running second just behind Flores in the pre-election opinion polls. Enditem