Peru accuses Venezuela's Chavez of meddling

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's prime minister accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday of secretly financing leftist causes in the country to spread his brand of socialism in Latin America.

Jorge del Castillo said Chavez was behind scores of humanitarian centers in Peru linked to the ALBA trade group of Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba and Nicaragua that opposes U.S.-style free-trade agreements.

Peruvian police believe some of the humanitarian centers are fronts for a political group called the Continental Bolivarian Committee, whose Web site praises militants.

"No sovereign country needs to accept actions of other sovereign countries that are done under the table. Venezuela should act through normal channels," Castillo told the foreign press club in Lima.

Though Chavez enjoys close ties with some countries in Latin America, others complain he uses cash from oil exports to spread his influence across the region.

He was at the center of a major diplomatic crisis in the region this month in which he deployed thousands of troops to Venezuela's border with Colombia and warned of possible war after Colombia attacked rebels across its border with Ecuador.

Peru's government says the charity houses offer help to the poor, along with heavy doses of leftist ideology.

"I'm sure that President Chavez wouldn't tolerate outposts of my political party in Venezuela ... Why are photos of Chavez in the ALBA centers?" Castillo said.

Peru's Congress last week said it would investigate the bank and telephone records of 88 humanitarian centers for suspected ties to protests, road blocks and boycotts that leftists have organized against President Alan Garcia, who is popular with business leaders.

Garcia, who signed a free-trade deal with the United States last year, has tried to position himself as a counterweight to Chavez in Latin America.

Venezuela's ambassador in Lima, Armando Luna, has denied his country finances the charities and has rejected allegations his government has interfered in Peruvian affairs.

Colombia has said it has evidence showing Chavez offered the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC rebels, $300 million. Chavez has said the allegations are part of a U.S.-based smear campaign.

(Reporting by Terry Wade and Marco Aquino; Editing by Dana Ford and Stuart Grudgings)