Jay-Z and Beyoncé may have celebrated five years of wedded bliss in Cuba last week, but there are two Republican members of Congress who have some questions about the anniversary trip.
Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart wrote a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department last Friday pressing for information regarding the type of license the superstar couple had obtained in order to travel to Cuba. There is a U.S. trade embargo against Cuba that prevents U.S. citizens from traveling there. Bey and Jay also brought their mothers along for the trip, where they were spotted eating out with them and later walking through the streets of Havana.
The representatives wrote Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to the Reuters for "information regarding the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel."
Both represent south Florida districts with high Cuban populations. They added, "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. 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."
The AP further reports that the State Department didn't know about the trip prior. And, if the couple did not obtain the proper licenses to travel to Cuba, they could pay a fine. While the embargo has been in place for over 50 years, President Obama has made concessions for travel there for academic, religious or cultural exchanges.
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