>Sean Penn: Journalists who call Hugo Chávez a dictator should be
>jailed

>Actor accuses US media of smearing Venezuelan president

>Rory Carroll in Caracas
>guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 March 2010 15.19 GMT

>Sean Penn has defended Hugo Chávez as a model democrat and said those
>who call him a dictator should be jailed.

>The Oscar-winning actor and political activist accused the US media of
>smearing Venezuela's socialist president and called for journalists to
>be punished.

>"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, who has visited Chávez in Caracas, said Venezuela's poor
>majority had willingly embraced his leftist revolution, but that this
>view was concealed from Americans.

>"We are hypnotised by the media. Who do you know here who's gone
>through 14 of the most transparent elections on the globe, and has
>been elected democratically, as Hugo Chávez?"

>Penn, speaking on Bill Maher's HBO chatshow, is part of a small but
>vocal pro-Chávez Hollywood group which includes Oliver Stone and Danny
>Glover.

>They have remained steadfast even as Venezuela's leader has lost fans
>at home and abroad. Inflation, crime and water and electricity
>shortages have hit his popularity and led to defections from his
>socialist party.

>The Organisation of American States recently accused Chávez of
>intolerance and authoritarianism, and a Spanish judge accused
>Venezuela of cosseting Farc and Eta terrorists, sparking a diplomatic
>spat with Madrid.

>Chávez thanked Penn for his support in what he said was a daily battle
>for public opinion.

>"I was reading the declarations from our friend Sean Penn, the famous
>American actor," he told a televised rally in Caracas. "Penn defended
>what he considers to be the truth."

>The Hollywood star was an ally in the effort to counter a campaign to
>"confuse" Venezuelans, said the president, who has been in power for
>11 years. "From here I thank you very much."

>Other celebrity endorsements have come from the linguist and writer
>Noam Chomsky and model Naomi Campbell.

>Sean Penn: Journalists who call Hugo Ch vez a dictator should be
>jailed

>Actor accuses US media of smearing Venezuelan president

>Rory Carroll in Caracas
>guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 March 2010 15.19 GMT

>Sean Penn has defended Hugo Ch vez as a model democrat and said those
>who call him a dictator should be jailed.

>The Oscar-winning actor and political activist accused the US media of
>smearing Venezuela's socialist president and called for journalists to
>be punished.

>"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, who has visited Ch vez in Caracas, said Venezuela's poor
>majority had willingly embraced his leftist revolution, but that this
>view was concealed from Americans.

>"We are hypnotised by the media. Who do you know here who's gone
>through 14 of the most transparent elections on the globe, and has
>been elected democratically, as Hugo Ch vez?"

>Penn, speaking on Bill Maher's HBO chatshow, is part of a small but
>vocal pro-Ch vez Hollywood group which includes Oliver Stone and Danny
>Glover.

>They have remained steadfast even as Venezuela's leader has lost fans
>at home and abroad. Inflation, crime and water and electricity
>shortages have hit his popularity and led to defections from his
>socialist party.

>The Organisation of American States recently accused Ch vez of
>intolerance and authoritarianism, and a Spanish judge accused
>Venezuela of cosseting Farc and Eta terrorists, sparking a diplomatic
>spat with Madrid.

>Ch vez thanked Penn for his support in what he said was a daily battle
>for public opinion.

>"I was reading the declarations from our friend Sean Penn, the famous
>American actor," he told a televised rally in Caracas. "Penn defended
>what he considers to be the truth."

>The Hollywood star was an ally in the effort to counter a campaign to
>"confuse" Venezuelans, said the president, who has been in power for
>11 years. "From here I thank you very much."

>Other celebrity endorsements have come from the linguist and writer
>Noam Chomsky and model Naomi Campbell.