Beyonce and Jay Z’s 2013 Cuba trip declared legal

[Judi Lynn]

Beyonce and Jay Z’s 2013 Cuba trip declared legal

By CNN • Published on August 21, 2014



A nine-page report released on Wednesday by the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General states that the power couple, whose legal names are Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Shawn Carter, did not violate any U.S. sanctions laws during their visit to Cuba last year.

Their April 2013 trip, around the time of their fifth wedding anniversary, was highly criticized. It sparked discussion that the two might have engaged in tourist activities that are illegal under the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Under current law and regulation, travel to the island nation is only permitted under license.

The report states that the couple’s trip to Cuba was properly licensed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the “people-to-people” educational exchange program. The license was issued to a nonprofit organization that has a mission to promote education in the fields of art, architecture and the decorative arts.

There were concerns that the two might have abused the terms of the license by engaging in too many tourist activities such as a welcome dinner, a walking tour of various Cuban neighborhoods and visits to see student artwork and theater performances. But, the report concludes that all activities followed the terms of the license.

“We believe OFAC’s determination that there was no apparent violation of U.S. sanctions with respect to Jay Z and Beyonce’s trip to Cuba,” the report states.

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http://progresoweekly.us/beyonce-jay-zs-2013-cuba-trip-declared-legal/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Article missed earlier, in the Guardian: The Miami political machine attacks Beyonce and Jay-Z

The Miami political machine attacks Beyonce and Jay-Z

By Weekly Archive • Published on April 10, 2013

By Ed Pilkington
From The Guardian

Shawn Carter could have been any American visitor strolling through the streets of a Caribbean town, dressed in standard-issue tourist fare of blue T-shirt and shorts, fedora on head and fat cigar in mouth. His wife, Mrs. Carter, as she likes to be addressed, did that other classic tourist thing: she slung a large and ostentatiously expensive camera around her neck.

Despite what they presumably thought was their clever tourist disguise, the Carters caused quite a splash when they came to town last week, so much so that local police had to be called out to keep the adoring crowds at bay. As the blogger of the Cuban government, Yohandry Fontana, put it: “Beyoncé takes Havana by storm”.

~snip~
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart have sent a joint letter to the Treasury Department official responsible for policing the embargo to demand to be told who approved the Carters’ travel and for what purpose. The letter points out that “tourist activities” are covered by the ban and complains that the trip was used by the Castro regime for propaganda purposes.

“The restrictions on tourism travel are common-sense measures meant to prevent U.S. dollars from supporting a murderous regime that opposes U.S. security interests at every turn and which ruthlessly suppresses the most basic liberties of speech, assembly and belief,” the politicians write.

To add to the heat, the anti-Castro lobby group Cuba Democracy Advocates, based in Washington, accused the couple of being “extremely insensitive”. “There are women getting beaten on a daily basis, people are fighting for their freedom,” the group’s director Mauricio Claver-Carone told celebrity news website TMZ.

More:
http://progresoweekly.us/the-miami-political-machine-attacks-beyonce-and-jay-z/