Venezuela ambassador leaves Lima amid escalating Venezuela-Peru tension
The already tense Venezuela-Peru relations worsened on Thursday, after Venezuela recalled its ambassador in Lima, four days after Peru withdrew its ambassador in Caracas amid an escalating war of words.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said late on Wednesday that in view of the current rifts between Venezuela and Peru, he decided to recall his country's ambassador in Lima, Cruz Manuel Martinez.

Chavez announced the decision after meeting with Bolivian President Evo Morales during a visit to Bolivia.

"We have no other choice but to withdraw our ambassador," he said. "And I gave the order with a great deal of regret."

Peru's President Alejandro Toledo ordered ambassador Carlos Urrutia to return home on Saturday, citing what he described as "the persistent and flagrant interference" of Chavez in Peru's domestic politics.

Peru on Tuesday accused Venezuela of meddling in Peru's election campaign, an accusation rejected by Venezuela's permanent representative to the Organization of American States Jorge Valera.

The Venezuela-Peru crisis was triggered by an exchange of insults between Chavez and Alan Garcia, a candidate for the Peruvian presidency.

Chavez threatened to break diplomatic relations with Peru if Garcia won the election, after the latter on Thursday called the Venezuelan president a "conceited scoundrel" for attacking his country's free trade deals with the United States while continuing selling his country's oil to the United States.

Chavez fought back by calling Garcia a "thief and a scoundrel,” adding that he and Toledo were "crocodiles from the same well," prompting Peru to remove its ambassador from Caracas.

Chavez has long supported Garcia's rival Ollanta Humala, whom he repeatedly described as a nationalist "committed to the cause of the peoples of the Americas and to the Peruvian people."

Peru and Venezuela also clashed in the Organization of American States, where Peru's ambassador said Venezuela's interference was "unacceptable" while Venezuela's ambassador argued Chavez was merely defending himself after unprovoked verbal attacks.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez said the tensions with Peru were part of an international campaign to isolate and destabilize Venezuela.

But Chavez told Venezuelan state television on Thursday that he believed the departure of ambassadors would not affect the two countries' relations in the long run.

"No one can separate us ... To the contrary, we will continue growing closer," he said.

He said on Wednesday night after a meeting with Bolivian President Evo Morales that "this matter should not have reached this stage, because it was a gratuitous attack by a candidate from over there."