( CNN ) -- Actor Sean Penn , a friend of Bolivian President Evo Morales , nonetheless angered the South American country 's government after his call for the release of a U.S. businessman who has been imprisoned since 2011 . Penn , known for his chumminess with Latin America 's leftist leaders , is also an advocate for Brooklyn flooring contractor Jacob Ostreicher , whose supporters say has spent two years detained in Bolivia without evidence . At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee meeting Monday , Penn asked U.S. lawmakers to pressure the sponsors of the off-road Dakar Rally to cancel its planned 2014 route through Bolivia if Ostreicher is not freed . `` The Dakar Rally , one of the world 's most prominent displays of freedom and tenacity of the human spirit , will be parading through Bolivia even as thousands of prisoners like Mr. Ostreicher sit in feces-filled cells , forgotten behind locked walls , '' Penn said . On Tuesday , Bolivia 's minister of culture shot back . `` The remarks by Mr. Penn are his worst acting in all of his career , '' Pablo Groux said , according to the state-run ABI news agency . `` The remark is offensive to the Bolivian people , totally out of context and lacking any understanding . '' The minister said the actor 's comments harkened back to a time when the United States exerted heavy influence in Latin America . `` Those days are long gone , '' Groux said . The rebuke from the Bolivian official is notable coming from a government that Penn has been friendly with . During his testimony before the subcommittee , Penn said that he does not blame Morales for Ostreicher 's situation , but endemic corruption in the judiciary . Penn said that he met with Morales last year , with evidence supporting Ostreicher 's innocence , and that `` these findings were received by the president with tremendous personal and human grief . '' Ostreicher is under house arrest after spending 18 months in a notorious prison while his case crawled in the overburdened Bolivian judicial system . He was arrested in June 2011 on suspicion of money laundering tied to a rice-growing operation , and he languished in prison without formal charges . He maintained that corrupt officials had trumped up the case , and last year , six government officials were arrested for allegedly extorting and stealing from Ostreicher . But the case against him has not been dropped . READ MORE : American on hunger strike after 11 months in Bolivian prison . READ MORE : Bolivia releases imprisoned American after 18 months .
Penn has advocated for the release of a Penn man from Bolivia . Penn called on U.S. lawmakers to pressure the Bolivian government . A Bolivian minister lashed out at Bolivia for his comments . The actor has a historically close relationship with U.S. .