SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) -- Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori has a favorite presidential candidate for the June 4 vote in his home country, but he told Reuters on Saturday he can't say who it is for fear of souring Chilean-Peruvian relations.

Fujimori was released on bail on Thursday in Chile, after being held in jail since November, while Peru tries to have him shipped home for a human rights and corruption trial.

He has given a string of media interviews in the last three days and there are fears in Peru he could influence the election by steering his still substantial following toward either leftist former president Alan Garcia or nationalist Ollanta Humala.

"Deep inside I have a preference but you won't be able to read it, not in my eyes or on my lips, because that is my promise while I'm here (in Chile) not to give opinions about Peru's internal politics," Fujimori said in an interview at a house he has rented in an upscale neighborhood in Chile's capital, Santiago.

Fujimori could not speak to the media while he was in jail, where he gardened and learned to play the guitar.

Now out on bail and free to speak, he risks arousing official Peruvian criticism against Chilean authorities for giving him too much freedom if he tries to influence electoral politics back home.

Chile's center-left government said this week that the independent judicial system's decision to let Fujimori out on bail should no be interpreted in Peru as a political statement.

"I fervently desire not to become a destabilizing factor (in Chile-Peru relations) and I'm going to make a major effort in that regard," said Fujimori, accompanied by two lawyers.

His daughter Keiko, recently elected to Peru's Congress, was visiting her father this weekend in Santiago, but did not participate in the interview.

Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000 when his second term collapsed in a corruption scandal and he fled to his ancestral homeland Japan, said he still hopes to return to politics some day but said he won't use Chile as a political platform.

"I have never tired, I have the vitality ... not only do I have the political bug, I also have politics in my blood," he said.

While many revile him for human rights abuses when his administration put down the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla movement, others admire Fujimori for ridding the country of the violent rebel group.

Fujimori, 67, arrived in Chile from Japan by surprise in November and was immediately arrested on an international warrant.

Chile's courts are studying an extradition request from Peru, where the government wants to prosecute him on charges ranging from embezzlement of millions of dollars to death squad killings.

"My conscience is clear and I trust that there will not be extradition because there is no foundation. I have faith in the Chilean justice system," he said.

Fujimori says he came to Chile because it has one of Latin America's fairest justice systems.

"The origin of 95 percent of the charges is political. That's why I call it political persecution," he said.

One of Fujimori's lawyers told Reuters the extradition proceedings will last at least four more months.