Hollywood hits Cuba 

Source: ReutersActor Benicio del Toro (R) accepts an award from the Cuban Union of writers and actors

Hollywood came to Havana on Thursday as Cuban writers and artists gave an award to Benicio del Toro, star of the 2008 movie "Che," in a ceremony attended by fellow actors Bill Murray, Robert Duvall and James Caan.

Murray stole the show when he improvised a version of the song "As Time Goes By" then jokingly passed around a hat, asking for money.

Their presence lent a bit of Hollywood glitz to warming US-Cuba relations, and may have been the precursor for the making of a film in Cuba.

A spokesman for the group says del Toro was in town for the award, but Murray, Duvall and Caan were working on a research project.

When asked if he and his pals might make a movie on the communist-led island, del Toro told reporters: "That depends on the governments, on the American government."

Because of the long-standing US trade embargo against Cuba, Americans have been forbidden, with some exceptions, from visiting the island or doing most business there.

Hollywood stars such as Robert Redford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Steven Spielberg have visited Cuba in the past but cultural exchanges slowed due to restrictions imposed by the former US President George Bush.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama offered to "recast" relations with Cuba, which have been sour since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

He has lifted travel restrictions for Cuban Americans and restarted immigration talks with Cuba that were suspended under Bush.

Puerto Rican-born del Toro won acclaim last year for his portrayal of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, an Argentine who fought alongside Castro in the Cuban revolution, in the two-part biopic "Che" directed by American Steven Soderbergh.