* Opposition leader Rosales seeks asylum in Peru

* Chavez has pushed opposition hard after election wins (Updates with Rosales ally, lawyer, Venezuelan minister)

By Terry Wade and Marco Aquino

LIMA, April 21 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales has fled to Peru and requested political asylum to escape corruption charges that he says are retaliation for his criticism of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Rosales filed the asylum request on Tuesday after arriving in Lima several days ago with 20 allies who oppose Chavez's socialist policies, a source close to the situation told Reuters.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia's right-hand man, Jorge Del Castillo, is assisting Rosales, the same source said. Del Castillo was seen by Reuters at Rosales' hotel on Tuesday.

Rosales did not appear in public because Venezuela wants him arrested.

"This is a witchhunt," Timoteo Zambrano, vice president of Rosales' Un Nuevo Tiempo party, told reporters. "The powers of the state have been used to hunt and politically lynch a leader for democracy."

Peru's Garcia, an ally of Washington and a fervent believer in free market reforms, has often criticized a new wave of Latin American left-wing leaders led by Chavez.