GOP Lawmakers Seek Details On Jay Z, Beyonce Move

[HuffingtonPost]

April 6 (Reuters) - Two Republican members of Congress have  asked the U.S. Treasury Department for information on what type  of license American pop star Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z  obtained for a high-profile trip to Cuba to celebrate their  wedding anniversary.                

Beyonce and Jay Z celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary  this week in Havana, where big crowds greeted them as they  strolled hand in hand through the Cuban capital.                

They ate at some of the city's best restaurants, danced to  Cuban music, walked through historic Old Havana and posed for  pictures with admiring Cubans, who recognized them despite the  past half-century of ideological conflict that separates the  United States and Cuba.                

In a letter dated on Friday, U.S. Representatives Ileana  Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, asked Adam Szubin, director  of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, for "information  regarding the type of license that Beyonce and Jay-Z received,  for what purpose, and who approved such travel."                

Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart represent districts in  south Florida where there is a high Cuban-American population.                

"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 said.                

"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."                

Representatives for Beyonce did not immediately respond for  comment on Saturday.                

The long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents  most Americans from traveling to the island without a license  granted by the U.S. government, although President Barack  Obama's administration has eased restrictions on travel to Cuba  for academic, religious or cultural exchanges.                

In Washington this week, the State Department said it had no  prior knowledge of the visit. A spokeswoman at the U.S.  Interests Section in Havana said she did not know if the  celebrity couple obtained a license for their trip. If they did  not, they could be exposed to a fine.                

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter  Cooney)

Via: HuffingtonPost