US leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky Monday defended Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' foreign policy and justified nuclear tests by North Korea as "an act of survival."

"North Korea faces the threat of the nuclear weapons the United States has in the region and, therefore, it needs to defend itself," Chomsky told reporters in the Chilean town of Temuco, Efe reported.

Chomsky, who arrived in Temuco upon an invitation from the La Frontera University to take part in a Congress on American Indigenous Languages and Literatures, also criticized the foreign policy of his country's President George W. Bush.

Chomsky (77) was quoted by Chávez last September 20 during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, where the Venezuelan ruler suggested reading Chomsky's book "Hegemony and Survival," published in 2003.

In Temuco, Chomsky declared that Venezuela "lives in a climate of absolute democracy." He was replying to questions regarding Venezuela bid to occupy a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

On the contrary, Guatemala -the other candidate to the Security Council for Latin America- "was intervened by the United States" in the 1950s and "has suffered a serious repression by its own governments."

"Anyone voting Guatemala is endorsing genocide, torture and killings in this country," Chomsky stressed, adding that Chávez "is given great support by his people, the largest support in the hemisphere."