President Díaz-Canel receives U.S. actor Kevin Costner

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, received American actor, director, and producer Kevin Costner, who is visiting the Caribbean nation to explore underwater archaeology, the Presidency of the Republic announced this Monday.

"It is a pleasure to meet you and your visit to Cuba is a source of enormous satisfaction.  You are greatly admired by the Cuban people, who have closely followed your stay in our country these past few days," the President stated during the meeting at the Palace of the Revolution.

Costner expressed that he feels very good in Cuba and that he had dreamed of this project for some time.

The American actor referred to his special friendship with Cuban Alejandro Mirabal, an underwater archaeologist and prominent researcher.   "I have studied the Caribbean a lot," he noted.   He commented that he was impressed by the Museo del Castillo de la Real Fuerza, both for its artifacts and its architecture.

During the pleasant conversation, the head of state invited him to visit Santiago de Cuba, whose bay holds a significant underwater heritage.

Kevin Costner previously visited Cuba in April 2001, where he met with the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, with whom he had a lively conversation, according to the press at the time.   On that occasion, he traveled to Havana to present the film "13 Days," about the October 1962 Crisis, in which he played the leading role of Kenneth O'Donnell, John F. Kennedy's collaborator at the time.

In a statement to the Spanish newspaper El País in 2015, the artist expressed his joy at the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States.