Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo asked the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday to give a ruling on Venezuela's interference in Peru's election, local media reported.

Toledo called on Lloyd Axworthy, head of the OAS's observer mission in Peru and former Canadian foreign minister, to rule on statements made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The Peru-Venezuela diplomatic crisis flared up in March, when Chavez spoke out in favor of Ollanta Humala, who leads the Peru Nationalist Union Party, and against Alan Garcia from the Peru Aprist Party. The two are now the final two candidates for the Peruvian presidency, and due for their final round on June 4.

The two presidents' relationship reached its lowest point when Chavez announced he was resigning from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), because of free trade deals signed by Peru and Colombia, further claiming that the United States had killed the CAN.

Later, amid an escalating war of words, Peru withdrew its ambassador from Caracas and Venezuela recalled its ambassador from Lima.

(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2006)