Music superstars Beyonce and Jay-Z were quite the spectacle last week as they strolled through the streets of Havana, mobbed by thousands of Cuban fans seeking to catch a glimpse of the celebrity couple. The pair were in the country celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary, but caught flack from legislators in Washington in recent days because of the longstanding U.S. embargo with Cuba.
In a letter, U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) asked Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, for “information regarding the type of license that Beyonce and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel.” It turns out that the celebrity couple was traveling to the island on a legally sanctioned, “cultural exchange trip.”
This hasn’t slowed the onslaught of criticism from conservative legislators who see the trip as unsanctioned tourism that provides financial support to an “enemy regime.”
“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 said. “We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime’s atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents.”
The uproar was amplified when Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also criticized the couple’s trip, saying “U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime.” Rubio’s parents left Cuba in 1956, less than three years before the Cuban Revolution ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista. He has risen to become a leading spokesperson for the monied exiled elite that left Cuba after the rise of Fidel Castro.
Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t an actual ban on travel to Cuba, but rather a U.S. Treasury restriction on spending money in the country. U.S. citizens have been traveling to Cuba for decades by way of Canada or another third country. In recent years, thousands have been granted licenses for direct travel which has become easier in the past five years.
Since taking office in 2008, President Obama has loosened travel restrictions, allowing several tour operators to obtain “People to People” licenses for operating tours in Cuba. Insight Cuba, one of the more popular tour groups, have been taking groups of U.S. citizens to the island since 2000.
Additionally, journalists, university researchers, religious groups and individuals on official government business can apply for a general license. Certain humanitarian projects have also received approval from the Treasury Department. In an April 2009 decision, Obama eased restrictions for all Cuban Americans, allowing them to travel freely for family visits and send money to loved ones.
The outcry against Jay-Z and Beyonce’s visit highlights the failures of the decades of sanctions against Cuba, considered an illegal punishment against a civilian population.
For more than 50 years, the U.S. has pursued a tight set of sanctions against Cuba, creating the longest economic blockade in modern history. Long after Cuba removed Soviet nuclear weapons from its territory, Washington continues inflicted what human rights groups call a “collective punishment” against Cuba’s 11 million citizens.
The international community has consistently condemned the 53-year U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. In an almost unanimous vote, 188 members of the 193 member U.N. General Assembly voted to denounce the U.S. trade embargo last year, calling upon Washington to immediately lift the blockade.
This opposition is echoed by a majority of Americans would like to normalize diplomatic relations and end all travel restrictions to the island. According to a January 2012 Angus Reid public opinion poll, 57 percent of Americans favor ending travel restrictions to Cuba. The same poll found that 62 percent favor normalizing diplomatic relations with the island.