Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z visited Havana last week on a cultural trip that was fully licensed by the United States Treasury Department, according to a source familiar with the trip.
The pair apparently traveled legally to the Communist-ruled island legally and did not violate the half-century-old US embargo against the Communist-ruled island, according to Reuters.
The long-standing US trade embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling to the island without a license granted by the US government, though President Obama’s administration has eased restrictions on travel to Cuba for academic, religious or cultural programs.
Over the weekend, Republican lawmakers questioned of the musical duo were in violation of the half-century-old US embargo against the Communist-ruled island.
The recording industry’s most powerful couple was photographed spending their fifth anniversary in Havana, drawing the ire of US Reps. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, both Republicans from south Florida.
“As you know, US law expressly prohibits … tourist activities in Cuba,” the Florida Republicans wrote in a letter to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“We write to express concern and to request information regarding the highly publicized trip by US musicians Beyonce Knowles-Carter (Beyonce) and Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) to Cuba. We would like to respectfully, within all applicable rules and guidelines, information regarding the type of travel that Beyonce and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel.”
While Americans are allowed to legally travel for US-approved work, academic and family purposes, many more simply get to Cuba by going through Mexico, Canada or another Caribbean nation.
Cuban customs authorities, aware of Americans taking this rule-breaking route, know not to stamp US passports at the airport.
Beyonce and Jay-Z have not explained how they got to Cuba and a reps for the musicians could not be immediately reached for comment today.
Page Six reported that the musical power couple, accompanied by their mothers, were mobbed by dozens of well-wishers at the La Guarida restaurant and police had to step in to keep the crowds at bay.
Restaurant staffers shared pictures with the Associated Press of Beyonce and Jay enjoying Cuban creole favorites, fish, chicken, black beans and rice.
Waitress Silvia Fernandez said Beyonce toured the eatery and looked at photos of past celebrity diners, like Jack Nicholson, Jodie Foster, Danny Glover, Will Smith, James Belushi and more.
Their bodyguards’ presence outside set the gritty, bustling neighborhood of Center Havana abuzz, and a crowd gathered downstairs shouting Beyonce’s name until she went to a balcony and waved.
Police arrived and made sure she was able to exit without incident.
“She was beautiful, without a drop of makeup, very natural,” Fernandez said. “What happened with the people was incredible.”
On Thursday the couple toured colonial Old Havana wearing dark glasses and surrounded by bodyguards and excited fans. Beyonce posed for pictures with local schoolchildren while Jay-Z puffed on a Cuban cigar, and then they popped into another restaurant that boasts a rooftop terrace with a sweeping view of the harbor.
State-run Web site CubaSi called it a touristic visit.
With Reuters and AP