PUNO, Peru, March 22 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is courting support among fellow leftists in Peru, though some leaders condemn his alleged meddling in political affairs.
While leaders such as Hernan Fuentes, governor of Peru's rural southern highland Puno province, praise Chavez and ask for his support, others, notably center-right Peruvian President Alan Garcia, consider the Venezuelan leader a "midget dictator with a big wallet," the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Chavez's efforts to spread his version of "21st century socialism," as he likes to call it, have included openly endorsing leftist presidential candidates in several Latin American countries. In 2006, Chavez backed Garcia's opponent, Ollanta Humala.
Despite Humala's loss, Chavez's influence in Peru remains palpable, as leaders such as Fuentes said they wished the Venezuelan president could provide financial assistance to the country's poor populace.
"We could use their (Venezuela's) gasoline … we could use more teachers, doctors," said Fuentes.
