U.S. says do not visit Venezuela; travel warning

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

The United States has issued a harsh travel warning to American citizens asking them not to travel to the country owing to risk of arbitrary arrest and detention. Tensions have escalated between the U.S. and the regime of Nicolás Maduro after the Trump administration’s decided to recognize the legitimacy of Venezuelan National Assembly leader and political opposition leader Juan Guaidó as acting president of the South American nation.

Maduro’s government response was severing the diplomatic ties with the U.S. and ordering embassy staff to leave the country. It accused Washington of supporting a ‘coup.’ Russia, China and Iran have backed Maduro, and criticized the U.S. decision.

The updated travel advisory states “Do not travel to Venezuela due to crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure, and arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens.”

On January 24, 2019, the Department ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members due to ongoing political instability.

The advisory warned that ‘the U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens’ in the country. The major concerns are violent crime, tense political rallies that are often repressed by authorities, a severe shortage of basic necessities and past detentions of American citizens for arbitrary reasons.

Earlier, Washington announced harsher sanctions, targeting the country’s state-run multibillion-dollar oil industry. Maduro has claimed that the U.S. is attempting to steal his country’s oil. The move is intended to cripple the government’s finances and encourage a transition of power.

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