Hugo Chavez Collects A-List Friendships

The latest Penn visit was a reportedly low-key affair. The independent press were kept at bay, "for security reasons," as one journalist reported.

Penn was, according to his representatives, on an assignment for the monthly journal The Nation. Among his assignment duties, Penn was photographed with Chavez visiting eastern Venezuela, where the construction of a gas pipe was taking place.

Penn had fond memories of his trip. In an October 2007 appearance on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" after his first Venezuela visit, Penn said he found Chavez to be a "fascinating guy, who's done incredible things for the 80 percent of the people that are poor there."

Not all Venezuelans see it that way. While Chavez has introduced social projects aimed at lessening the hardships of the poor in the country, his attempts to create much cheaper produce resulted in a much weaker economy with the highest inflation in the hemisphere. As a result, Venezuela is dependent on Colombian food imports, which in turn has occasionally led to scarcity on the supermarket shelves and higher food prices.

But a carefully constructed image is being carved out for his international audience, said Villamizar. Reaching out to Western celebrities sends a message to the world about Chavez.

"It's also about the exotic," Villamizar said. "We've got a president who sings, who's got his ear to the ground, more so than President Bush, and comes across as exotic to foreigners. … And that's what it's about, really."