Western Hemisphere
President Hugo Chávez praised his US counterpart Barack Obama for criticizing the hard-line editorial position of Fox News against Obama's government and made a comparison between the case of the US network and the "attack" by some private media against his socialist revolution.

Obama said this week that Fox Network, a conservative channel owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, is "entirely devoted to attacking my administration" and seldom runs any positive stories about Obama's administration, Reuters reported.

"Obama decided to act and joined the fray. Let's applaud Obama," said the Venezuelan president in an unprecedented gesture. His remarks came late on Thursday, when Chávez talked about socialism in a TV program broadcasted by state-run channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

A fierce critic of the "US imperialism," Chávez however showed optimism about the attitude of the new US ruler, after years of insults against former president George W. Bush.

"Obama is not talking about a revolution but I think he wants a change," Chávez said.