US Lawmakers Express "Concern" Over Jay-Z, Beyonce Cuba Trip

US Lawmakers Express "Concern" Over Jay-Z, Beyonce Cuba Trip
April 5, 2013 | 9:50 pm
By the Caribbean Journal staff

Two United States lawmakers are expressing "concern" over a trip to Cuba
this week by music stars Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles-Carter.

The two reportedly traveled to Cuba to mark their fifth wedding anniversary.

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman Mario
Diaz-Balart have written a letter to Adam Szubin, director of the United
States' Office of Foreign Assets Control, seeking information on the
type of licence the pair of stars received for their travel to Cuba.

US citizens are permitted to travel to Cuba only under certain licences,
such as people-to-people travel or educational endeavours.

"We would like to respectfully request, within all applicable rules and
guidelines, information regarding the type of licence that Beyoncé and
Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel," the
lawmakers wrote.

"If these individuals were given people-to-people licenses, we would
like to bring to your attention the Cuba Travel Advisory issued by OFAC
on July 25, 2011 which states, 'OFAC only licenses People-to-People
Groups that certify that all participants will have a full-time schedule
of educational exchange activities that will result in meaningful
interaction between the travelers and individuals in Cuba,'" they wrote.

Both Members of Congress have been longtime critics of Cuba's government.

The two said that, because Cuba's tourism industry is "wholly
state-owned," "US dollars spent on Cuban tourism directly fund the
machinery of oppression that brutally represses the Cuban people."

http://www.caribjournal.com/2013/04/05/us-lawmakers-express-concern-over-jay-z-beyonce-cuba-trip/