Lawmakers question Beyonce and Jay-Z's Cuba trip

Two Republican members of Congress are wondering why the superstars were allowed to travel to Cuba.

(Photo: Ramon Espinosa, AP)

Superstars Beyoncé and Jay-Z were mobbed by fans last week when they visited Havana and celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary.

But two Republican members of Congress have asked the U.S. Treasury Department for information on what type of license the two had for the high-profile trip.

In a letter dated on Friday, reports Reuters, U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, asked Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, for "information regarding the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel."

Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart represent districts in south Florida with a high Cuban-American population.

"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 long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling to the island without a special license.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z declined to speak to reporters, but state-run website CubaSi called it a tourist trip, reports AP. And despite the license requirements, tens of thousands of Americans travel to Cuba each year on academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange licenses. In the past, artists who were challenged by the government have said they visited for cultural purposes.

If the two didn't have the proper license, they could face having to pay a fine.