A Hollywood bad boy in the ’80s and an activist in the 2000s, Sean Penn is Hugo Chávez’s new favorite guy. Penn is in Venezuela this week doing what he does best — visiting poor neighborhoods — and the president of that country praised Penn for both his anti-Bush stance and his talent as an actor on his weekly TV address:

“Welcome to Venezuela, Mr. Penn. He is moved by his conscience, by the search for new ways,” said Chávez Wednesday in his televised speech. “He is one of the biggest opponents of the invasion of Iraq.”

Chávez read aloud a recent open letter form Penn to president George W. Bush, in which he condemns the war in Iraq and demands that the leader of the U.S. be challenged. He also says that vice president Dick Cheney and the secretary of state Condoleezza Rice “villainous people and criminally obscene.”

Chávez said that he spoke with Penn on the phone and that they plan to meet today in person. He also said that he recently saw Penn’s movie “Mystic River”.

Via / Yahoo! Spain Noticias