LIMA, June 5: Former president Alan Garcia beat a fiery ex-army nationalist in Peru’s runoff election on Sunday, staging a political comeback after his 1980s government ended in economic ruin, rebel violence and accusations of rights abuses.

The result is a blow for Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, who sparked a diplomatic spat with Peru after trying to take advantage of a populist anti-US tide in Latin America by supporting Ollanta Humala, a former army commander.

With 77 per cent of the ballots counted, Alan Garcia, who portrays himself as a left-of-centre democrat, won about 55 per cent of the vote and Mr Humala, who spooked many middle-class Peruvians with calls for a revolution against the rich, had some 45 per cent.

Mr Humala conceded at a news conference but vowed to push for his nationalist revolution to help the half of Peru’s population living in poverty.

—Reuters