Images via Revolution Studios
By Alina Perera Robbio, translated from the Spanish
"The Cuban people appreciate you very much," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said on Monday afternoon while welcoming American actor, director, and producer Kevin Costner to the Palace of the Revolution. Costner has arrived in Cuba for the second time, making in a series about underwater archaeology.
The Cuban President told the distinguished filmmaker that it was a pleasure to meet him and spoke of his "enormous satisfaction" that this friend is currently in Cuba. "You are greatly admired by the Cuban people," Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said, citing not only Kevin Costner's artistic career but also his special focus on social and environmental issues as the reason for this.
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez told the visitor that Cubans have been following with interest the American's experiences in various locations in the Caribbean country while praising the underwater archaeology project that brought him to the island as "very good."
For his part, the famous actor said he's been greatly enjoying these past few days in Cuba. "It's been a dream of mine for a long time," said Costner, who also added, "I've studied the Caribbean a lot."
Last Tuesday, Costner visited the Castillo de La Real Fuerza Museum in Havana. Regarding the experience, he told President Díaz-Canel of his interest in the underwater archaeological artifacts on display and his admiration for the colonial building's architecture.
The actor was impressed—and made this clear to his host—by Havana's architecture. At another point in the friendly conversation, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba invited him to return to the island to explore other sites of value for underwater archaeology, such as Santiago de Cuba.
Participating in the exchange alongside the American director and producer was Cuban underwater archaeologist and researcher Alejandro Mirabal, who has had a significant career dedicated to the rescue and preservation of the world's underwater heritage. Costner said of this scholar, who holds a Guinness World Record for the most dives to historic shipwrecks, (with 243 sites recorded), that they met more than a decade ago in Mozambique, and their friendship has grown ever since.
Kevin Costner's first visit to Cuba was in 2001. The visit was part of a screening of his film "13 Days." That visit included a surprise meeting with Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz. Of that first visit the actor later told the press that it was "an experience of a lifetime," and that "in the world we live in, I'm always happy about news that shows us getting closer to each other."
This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC
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