Chavez thanks Sean Penn for support
Hugo Chavez has thanked Sean Penn for defending him against his critics in the US media
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has thanked American actor Sean Penn for defending him against his critics in the US media.
In an appearance on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Penn last week condemned critics of Mr Chavez who refer to the socialist leader as a dictator.
The Oscar-winning celebrity noted that Mr Chavez had won repeated elections and suggested that US media critics who call him a dictator should be jailed.
He said: "Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it. And this is mainstream media. There should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies."
Penn has met Mr Chavez several times and frequently defends the president's left-wing policies.
Mr Chavez told a televised rally in Caracas: "I was reading the declarations from our friend Sean Penn, the famous American actor. Penn defended what he considers to be the truth."
