Beyonce, Jay-Z’s trip to Cuba was licensed: U.S. Treasury Dept.
ASSOCIATED PRESS April 9, 2013 10:20PM
U.S. singer Beyonce holds her camera as she tours Old Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 4, 2013. Beyonce is in Havana with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, on their fifth wedding anniversary. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
MIAMI — U.S. Treasury officials say the trip by Beyonce and Jay-Z to Cuba was licensed as an educational exchange.
Assistant Treasury Secretary Alastair Fitzpayne wrote in a letter Tuesday to congressional representatives that the famous hip-hop couple traveled to Cuba with a group authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control to promote people-to-people contact in Cuba.
The letter was released Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Ros-Lehtinen and U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, both Florida Republicans, had expressed concerns to the Treasury Department about the trip and wanted to know if it was licensed.
Beyonce and Jay-Z marked their fifth wedding anniversary in Havana last week. U.S. citizens are not allowed to travel to Cuba for mere tourism, though they can obtain licenses for academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange trips. The people-to-people licenses were reinstated under the Obama administration.
