Chavez is full of praise for ‘well-informed’ Penn

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.

Mr Chavez said Penn travelled 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,” Mr Chavez said in a televised speech. “He’s one of the greatest opponents of the Iraq invasion.”