A Venezuelan court has ordered the arrest of a key opponent of President Hugo Chavez who fled to Peru and is seeking political asylum there, prosecutors in Caracas said.

President Hugo Chavez has threatened to imprison the popular governor of Venezuela’s western Zulia state for allegedly plotting to kill him.

Emboldened by a resounding re-election, President Hugo Chavez has all the political capital he needs to drive Venezuela more firmly toward socialism while posing an increasingly defiant challenge to US influence.