What began as a simple romantic getaway could result in a state investigation.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z visited Cuba to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, and while the international stars were mobbed by fans upon their arrival, others were less thrilled to see the power couple in Cuba.
Two Republican members of Congress, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, have asked the U.S. Treasury for information on the type of license the pair had for the trip. The two Congress members asked for "information regarding the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel," in a letter dated April 5, addressing Adam Szubin, the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The U.S. embargo technically prohibits all U.S. tourism to Cuba.
"Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple's trip as tourism, and the Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda," the letter read. "We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime's atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents."
Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balart represent districts in south Florida with high Cuban-American populations.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z have not spoken to reporters. A state run website called CubaSi called it a tourist trip, according to the Associated Press.
The State Department said it had no prior knowledge of the trip and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Interests Section in Havana said she didn't know whether the couple had secured the required license.
There has been a long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, which prevents most Americans from traveling there without first acquiring a special license. President Barack Obama has loosened the travel restrictions and tens of thousands of Americans travel to Cuba each year on academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange licenses.
The license requires a "full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that will result in meaningful interaction between the travelers and the individuals in Cuba." Past artists who have been called into question by the government have said they visited for cultural purposes.
"The restrictions on tourism travel are common-sense measures meant to prevent U.S. dollars from supporting a murderous regime that opposes U.S. security interests at every turn and which ruthlessly suppresses the most basic liberties of speech, assembly and belief," the Congress members stated in their letter.
Even if the couple did not have a proper license, they would not be the first high profile people to work around the embargo. In February 1962, President John F. Kennedy asked his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, to buy him 1,200 of his favorite Cuban cigars. This was right before Kennedy extended trade restrictions with Cuba to an embargo.
Traveling to Cuba without proper licenses could result in a fine.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
