What's the Spanish for a useful idiot?
He might be the darling of the Irish Left, but there is little doubt that wannabe dictator Hugo Chavez is a nasty piece of work. He shuts down opposition, criminalises dissidents and is currently in the process of destroying the Venezuelan constitution to allow him become ruler-for-life.
So what happens to someone as odious as that? Why, they get a visit from Sean Penn, of course.
He might be a compelling actor but he manages to combine the political naivety of a Michael Moore with the dour, humourless sense of self importance of a ... well, a Michael Moore.
And having already made a fool of himself on his visit to Iraq before the war, swiftly followed by his furiously indignant response to Team America: World Police, he says he was visiting Venezuela in "my capacity as a journalist".
In other words, he's going to stay in his hotel room all day, rob stories from local papers, fiddle his expenses and sleep with as many of the local whores as he can find.
Actually, he's gone up in our estimation.
