Sean Penn and Hugo Chavez leave Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela
He has formed alliances with the likes of Fidel Castro and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but Hugo Chavez has a new friend, Sean Penn. The Oscar winner has impressed the Venezuelan president by taking a stance against the Iraq war, and on Aug. 3, Chavez escorted Penn across his country. The pair toured an agricultural research lab and drove near the dangerous Colombian border. Penn, visiting as a journalist, said few words publicly. But Chavez was quick to praise Penn for being "anti-Bush," adding, "He's very quiet but has a fire burning inside."