Beyonce and Jay Z's April 2013 visit to Cuba was legal despite reports claiming that the power couple engaged in tourist activities, which are illegal under the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
The Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a nine-page report Wednesday, Aug. 20, saying that two music icons did not violate any U.S. sanctions laws during their visit to the Caribbean island country, The Blaze reported.
Travel to the Cuba is permitted under license, and the Treasury's OIG said that the pair's trip was properly licensed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the so-called "people-to-people" educational exchange program.
Though it is possible to get a people-to-people license to the island nation and then abuse it by engaging in tourist activities, OIG declared that Beyonce and Jay Z's activities in Cuba did not violate the terms of the license.
"Based on our review of available documentation and applicable regulations and guidance, we found no indication that U.S. sanctions were violated, and we concluded that the Office of Foreign Assets Control's decision not to pursue a formal investigation was reasonable," read a portion of OIG report.
Though the trip happened during the couple's fifth wedding anniversary, all the activities they had in the country "serve the U.S. foreign policy goal of heeling the Cuban people by facilitating exchanges with them and supporting the development of independent activity and civil society," according to the report.
When the couple was mobbed by fans during their four-day visit to Cuba, U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, two Miami-area Cuban-American lawmakers, 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," according to USA Today.
Jay Z was quick to address the controversy by posting the "Open Letter" song to his blog on April 11, 2013.The song slams the critics who suggested the couple's clearance to visit Cuba came from their friend President Barack Obama in the White House rather than the Treasury Department, CNN reported.
