Peru's president-elect Alan Garcia said on Thursday that the new Peruvian government would make efforts to improve relations with Venezuela.

Garcia, who is currently on a tour to Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador, told a press conference in Quito that he was not pursuing through the tour a so-called "axis" against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The tour was aimed at improving regional integration and strengthening the role of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), he stressed.

"The new Peruvian government hopes to resume normal relations with Venezuela," Garcia said.

He noted that Venezuela's withdrawal from CAN in April was an "economic event" and was not caused by political differences between Venezuela and CAN. Garcia said he believed Venezuela would return to CAN.

Chavez and Garcia were involved in a war of words since April. The Venezuelan president frequently criticized Garcia, Peru's then presidential candidate, and expressed his public support for Garcia's rival, nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala.

The conflict escalated to a peak when the two countries eventually recalled their respective ambassadors.

Source: Xinhua