By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela -Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has praised
Sean Penn for his critical stance against the war in Iraq, saying the
two chatted by phone and soon plan to meet in person.
Chavez said
Penn traveled to Venezuela this week wanting to learn more about the
situation in the country and walked around some of Caracas’ poor
barrios on his own.
“Welcome to Venezuela, Mr. Penn. What drives
him is consciousness, the search for new paths,” Chavez said Wednesday
in a televised speech. “He’s one of the greatest opponents of the Iraq
invasion.”
Chavez read aloud from a recent open letter by Penn to
President Bush in which the actor condemned the Iraq war and called for
Bush to be impeached, saying the president along with Vice President
Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are “villainously
and criminally obscene people.”
The socialist president, who
shares those views, said he and Penn talked by phone _ “with my bad
English but we understood each other more or less.”
Chavez said
the two plan to meet Thursday. He called the actor “well-informed about
what is happening in the United States and the world, in spite of being
in Hollywood.”
What’s more, Chavez said, “he’s made great films.”
The Venezuelan leader said he recently watched Penn’s Oscar-winning
performance in the film “Mystic River.”
For his part, Penn on
Wednesday toured Venezuela’s new film studios on the outskirts of
Caracas. Penn, whose visit was unannounced, did not speak publicly.
Sean Penn Praised by Venezuela’s Chavez
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