For once, I don't have any real issues with the Chavez quotes from this article.  I think Sean Penn did show a lot of courage in publicly opposing the Iraq war, and without question he's made some fantastic movies. 

However, I don't think Mr. Penn will get a true feel for fascism at play in Venezuela merely by taking a hand-selected tour through some Caracas barrios.  From my experience, Maria Conchita Alonso has a better sense of what's really happening in Venezuela . . . a well-intentioned debacle.

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An anecdote:  during Chavez's mandatorily-televised Sunday speech last week, he proposed that any family with a house containing three or more bedrooms not in use would be obliged to take on poor boarders (at enormously discounted rates) at the sole decree of the federal government.  Imagine for a moment:  my in-laws had four kids and two older relatives living at their house, which they eventually expanded from four bedrooms to five bedrooms plus an office.  Now that the kids are married off and the grandmothers have passed on, they would be required to take in people they don't know at a loss. 

Since Chavez goes on at length, sometimes extemporaneously, it is possible that he was just engaging is some public speculation or scare tactics.  But one never knows, and there is no longer any credible means for an opposition to oppose his decrees. 

Mr. Penn would do well to keep these types of issues in mind before declaring any public support for Chavez.  One think I like about Sean Penn:  in the article, he was very careful to mention that he was touring the area and learning.  He didn't actually express any public support for Chavez.  I think people shouldn't "pile on" Sean just because he made the trip.