A daily newspaper based in Lima accused Monday Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of cashing in on the Peru disaster and making politics by donating canned tuna with a photo of him and Peruvian opposition leader Ollanta Humala on the label.

The Venezuelan embassy to Peru rebutted the newspaper remarks.

According to the claim, the food distributed in the razed underprivileged barrios of Pisco and Chincha, in central-southern Peru, bears a label which reads: "In the face of plundering, blockade, despair and chaos, solidarity with our fellow countrymen."

Daily newspaper Expreso, quoted by AFP, released a picture where a resident shows a can with the photos of Chávez and Humala. No mention was made as to where the picture was taken.

Venezuelan ambassador to Lima José Armando Laguna labeled the move as "vile, evil handling," and denied that the donations had come with such a label.

"Our food came without political propaganda. I challenge the press to check the donations from my country that arrived in Pisco military airport, Laguna told local radio CPN.