Garcia holds lead over Humala in Peru runoff-poll

LIMA, Peru, May 27 (Reuters) Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia is holding a strong lead over retired army commander Ollanta Humala in the final stretch of the race for Peru's presidency, a poll showed today.

The CPI poll put Garcia ahead in the race for the June 4 runoff with 59.9 per cent, while Humala had 40.1 per cent. Garcia's support was 1.5 points lower than in a poll by the same firm early in May.

Humala, who won the April 9 first round with 30.6 per cent of the vote, has worried investors with plans to increase state control of Peru's enormous mineral wealth.

Garcia is seen attracting the votes of backers of conservative lawmaker Lourdes Flores, whom came third in the April election.

''The real poll will come on June 4, at the voting booths,'' Humala told local radio, claiming that polls have been loaded against him.

Many see Garcia as the safer alternative for president, even though his 1985-1990 government left Peru economically devastated.

Both candidates are trying to win over the up to one-quarter of voters who say they are undecided or will ruin their ballots.

The national CPI poll of 1,710 people was carried out on May 24-25 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

REUTERS CH BST2337