Sean Penn in Bolivia on humanitarian mission for Haiti

VISIT • Actor Sean Penn arrived in La Paz, Bolivia Wednesday on a humanitarian aid mission for Haiti. President Evo Morales and Penn held a joint news conference to inform members of the media as to what the visit was all about.

By REUTERS /AP /THE HUFFINGTON POST

Morales and Penn in Murillo's Palace. Photo © THE HUFFINGTON POST®

LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters).— The Hollywood actor, screenwriter and director is known for his political activism and stopped in the South American country as part of a tour to discuss his work in Haiti where he founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization in response to the January 2010 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation.

"President Morales has received us," said Penn. "We briefly chatted before beginning a discussion about what ways new collaborations might be had with Haiti and Bolivia and we hope to have this be the beginning of many to follow."

President Morales said:

"In the last meeting of the presidents of the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas) we decided that our ministers are going to have a meeting, a meeting in Haiti, to plan and organize how to start the work again with the Haitian people"

Actor Sean Penn in Bolivian traditional dress. Photo © THE HUFFINGTON POST®

US actor Sean Penn has been pictured wearing traditional Bolivian traditional dress during his tour of South America, where he has been speaking out against British "colonialism" of the Falkland Islands.

The Hollywood star wore the garb and a miner's hat during a meeting with Bolivia's president Evo Morales at the presidential palace in La Paz.

Earlier this week Penn made headlines when he attacked Britain's decision to deploy Prince William to the region as a search and rescue pilot.

"The world today cannot tolerate ridiculous demonstrations of colonialism. The way of dialogue is the only way to achieve a better solution for both nations," he said on Monday.

He was branded an "idiot" and a "fool" by Simon Weston, a British veteran of the Falklands war for wading into the dispute.

Penn made the comments as he toured South America in his role as Haitian ambassador-at-large. See more pictures...

Source: Reuters / AP / THE HUFFINGTON POST^®