(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
WASHINGTON – A Republican senator said entertainers Beyonce and Jay-Z missed a chance while in Cuba to see firsthand the effects of political oppression.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called their recent trip “hypocritical” and he took issue with the U.S. government’s approval of the visit as a cultural mission.
Beyonce and Jay-Z marked their wedding anniversary in Havana last week.
U.S. citizens aren’t allowed to travel to Cuba for mere tourism, though they can obtain licenses for academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange trips. These people-to-people licenses were reinstated under the Obama administration.
Rubio, a Cuban-American, says such trips provide money to the Castro government to oppress the Cuban people.
Rubio discussed the trip during interviews Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” ABC’s “This Week” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”