The couple toured Havana on April 4. (Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)Beyoncé and Jay-Z looked crazy in love celebrating their fifth anniversary in Cuba last week, but not everyone is smitten over their decision to travel to the embargoed country.
Two Republican members of Congress have asked the U.S. Treasury Department for an investigation into whether the musical power couple – and parents to 1-year-old daughter Blue Ivy – had the required government permission to travel to the communist country.
In a letter written by U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart – who represent districts in South Florida, where there’s a high Cuban-American population – they asked Office of Foreign Assets Control director Adam Szubin for information about the license the couple received, the purpose of their travel, and who approved the trip.
“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 stated.
It’s true that the couple – who have long been President Obama supporters, so it has not gone unnoticed that they are being singled out by Republicans – looked like tourists as they strolled the streets of Old Havana on April 4, which was their anniversary. In addition to visiting historical landmarks – while Beyonce snapped photos with her camera, perhaps for Tumblr – they reportedly visited a dance troupe, dined out at a high-level restaurant, and did some dancing of their own.
The couple now faces inquiries from Congress into their trip. Penalties for violating the ban can include fines of up to $250,000 (a drop in the bucket for Forbes‘ Highest-Paid Celebrity Couple, who earned an estimated $78 million last year), but also prison time. However, thousands of Americans travel to Cuba each year – usually by way of other countries — and few are prosecuted.
Reps for Jay-Z and Beyoncé have not yet responded to omg!’s request for comment, and Beyonce, who is gearing up for a world tour, has already seems moved on to other things. On Sunday, she released a video for Chime for Change, which is Gucci’s campaign to promote women’s empowerment, in which she talked about the most influential woman in her life: her mom.
Check it out here.
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