CARACAS, Venezuela - Actor Kevin Spacey
met privately Monday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington's most outspoken critics in
Latin America. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_en_mo/venezuela_kevin_spacey_3
Neither Spacey — who has won Academy
Awards for roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty" — nor Chavez spoke to the press after the nearly three-hour encounter in the presidential
palace in Caracas. They shook hands
warmly on the red carpet as Spacey left after a dinner with Chavez.
Hours earlier, the actor visited a $13 million
film studio founded last year by the government to support Venezuelan filmmaking. Details were not released about the rest
of Spacey's itinerary.
Chavez has said Venezuela hopes to produce its own films as an alternative
to the "cultural imperialism" of Hollywood. Yet, Chavez speaks highly of some Hollywood films.
He has also hosted recent visits
by stars including Sean Penn and Danny Glover.
