After Beyoncé and Jay-Z were photographed vacationing in Cuba on their wedding anniversary earlier this week, government officials and activist groups are criticizing their judgement and asking that the naure of their trip be further investigated.
Two Republican lawmakers are asking a government agency to look into their trip. Florida Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart wrote a letter to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. “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,” they wrote.
When Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in 1959, Americans were banned from traveling and spending money there.
The Obama administration lifted part of the restrictions on travel to Cuba in 2012. New guidelines require that vacationers follow strict itineraries and are limited to “people-to-people” travel with educational exchange.
Cuba Democracy Advocates in Washington, D.C., a group dedicated to promoting democracy in the Caribbean country, has also criticized the power couple for vacationing in the communist nation. Executive Director, Mauricio Claver-Carone, told TMZ, “There are women getting beaten on a daily basis, women who are being jailed for no reason … people are fighting for their freedom. It’s extremely insensitive.”
While visiting Havana, the Carters dined at top restaurants and visited local historical sites. The couple has not responded to the criticism.
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