Category: Celebrity News Author : Kim LaCapria Posted: March 29, 2010
Tags : bill maher, hugo chavez, maria conchita alonso, open letter, open letter to sean penn, Sean Penn
Earlier this month, Sean Penn appeared on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, defending Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. (Clip below.)
Penn’s remarks caused a stir, but Cuban-born actress Maria Conchita Alonso’s open letter to Sean Penn has drawn the most attention since Penn’s interview with Maher. The actress makes several counterpoints to Penn’s assertions, though some cross the line from fact into possibly misguided opinion. For instance, Alonso says:
We live in the U.S.A., the land of opportunity to do and say what we desire, respecting dissenting points of view, of course and without reprisals.
Interestingly, Bill Maher, host of the show on which Penn made the initial remarks, was famously chided by the government for controversial statements made in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
In the U.S.A. the arm of the law comes down hard on government or private sector where cases of fraud and corruption are discovered.
Again, not necessarily true- in fact, we recently had a ruling here granting unprecedented rights to corporations.
Then WHY do you applaud the efforts of a government that has notoriously increased poverty (65% to 71%), produced scarcity of staple products and created an energy and water shortage crisis never seen in Venezuela?
Yet Alonso supported McCain in the last presidential election, representing a party who presided over a large spike in poverty in the US over the eight years of the Bush administration.
Maria Conchita Alonso’s missive is long, and you can read it in its entirety here. Below is a clip of Penn in Bill Maher, discussing Hugo Chavez.
Mar 29, 2010
you have got to be kidding? this is article is pure garbage.
Mar 29, 2010
What is garbage is Penn and the author of this article basically supporting Chavez. IF they think things are so much better there, then why don’t they leave on a jet plane and WE dont care if they ever come back again. Penn is a great actor but he’s politically inept…
Mar 29, 2010
Nice hit piece on Maria. No bias here!!!!
Mar 29, 2010
I opened this link to make a comment but everything I wanted to say is already stated. I say Sean Penn and the author of this propaganda both need to move to Argentina since they love Chavez so much!
Mar 29, 2010
Hugo Chavez is an idiot. Period. Anybody who supports him is an idiot, just like him. Period.
Mar 30, 2010
This little actress is a nincompoop. Just because she lived there does not mean she has a clue about what was/has been and is going on in Venezuela, indeed in central America.
Nevertheless a nincompoop has the right to blab her “opinions” as much as the next idiot and it is in fact refreshing to see that rednecks, born again oligophrenics, and other assorted “Anglo” sheep have no monopoly on crass stupidity, that imbecility is and equal opportunity quality. Now we hear from a Hispanic. The Anglo morons are not any dumber than she is.
Those who have two neurons to rub together would benefit from trying to become more informed about the whole region first and about our role in its history. Here’s a start:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/U-S-Plunges-Central-Ameri-by-Rick-Rozoff-100327-95.html
Apr 4, 2010
Watching the video it’s rather astonishing to see how willing Penn is to glaze over Chavez’s actions as press misunderstanding.
So, uh, Kim rather than being bothered to post a link to her entire letter or do a point by point analysis you draw out a few points, call them her opinions and counter with your opinions.
Way to go…
Jun 30, 2011
I've barely stopped laughing enough to type this comment. I love when delusional internet writers slice and dice information enough to actually make a comparison between McCain, The republican party and an oppressor like Chavez. Idiocy does not even begin to describe this comparison.
Jul 21, 2011
Sean Penn has the right to advocate any politician he wants no? I mean, people in the states actually voted for McCain which also means they voted for Palin to the position of vice President. And that my friends, is insanity in it's purest form. I'm sick and tired of you American hypocrites judging anyone with another point of view, when you don't even have a social healthcare system. Without one you're hardly to be considered a country.