HAVANA: Oscar-winning actor and political activist Sean Penn arrived in Cuba hoping to interview its revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, Cuban government-controlled television reported. The report showed Penn walking in the town of Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Youth, accompanied by Cuban painter Alexis Leyva. A US entertainment news website, TMZ, reported earlier that Penn was writing a story for Vanity Fair magazine about how the Obama administration has affected Cuba.

Since taking office in January, US President Barack Obama has moved to ease a half-century of tension with Cuba, with small steps such as relaxing rules on visits and money transfers to the island.

But so far, the US administration has not taken major strides in its approach to Americas’ only communist regime. The Obama administration has said it will not seek to end the US economic embargo, instead urging Havana to show progress on human rights.