The United States issues a travel alert asking not to travel to Venezuela due to risks of COVID-19 and kidnappings

The State Department warned that it does not advise traveling to Venezuela due to the very high risk to the lives of Americans

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USA issued this Thursday a travel alert to Venezuela for the risk that traveling to that country represents due to the increase in COVID cases – 19 and for the possible arrest of US citizens, supposedly without judicial guarantees.

“Do not travel to Venezuela due to the detention of US citizens without guarantees of due process or a fair trial and with the pretext for an illegitimate end. Do not travel because of crime, civil protests, poor health infrastructure, kidnappings and covid – 19 ″ said in a statement the Department of State .

The State Department usually issues travel alerts to inform your citizens of the safety of the countries to those who plan to move.

In the case of Venezuela , US diplomacy reported that

the travel alert remains at level 4, the highest, which is when the consular services advise not travel due to “the high probability of risks that pose a danger to life”.

The travel alert also advises that travelers should expect delays when returning to the United States.

How the travel alerts system works

The Department of State’s travel alert system has four levels , with 1 being the lowest level, at which Americans should use “normal precautions.”

The United States uses level 2 to ask its citizens to “pay more attention” and uses level 3 to warn of higher risk situations and in which the government advises Americans reconsidering whether to travel to the country in question.

The government of the president Joe Biden has so far not changed its policy towards V enezuela compared to its predecessor, Donald Trump (2017 – 2020), and continues to recognize the opposition leader as acting president Juan Guaidó , which was proclaimed as such in January 2019 with US support.

Last February, the Biden Administration indicated that it did not expect to establish direct contact with the president’s government Nicolás Maduro in “the short term”, and indicated that he continued to recognize Guaidó as his interlocutor.

The State Department withdrew diplomatic personnel from the United States Embassy in Caracas in 2019. Since then , all consular services, routine and emergency, are suspended.

Due to this situation, the United States government has a limited capacity to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Venezuela.

US citizens in Venezuela requiring consular services should try to leave the country as soon as possible safely and contact a U.S. embassy or consulate in another country.

Coronavirus in Venezuela

The Centers for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (CDC) also report Americans that there is a very high level of cases of COVID – 19 In Venezuela and that they should avoid traveling to that country.

The CDC alert explains that due to the current situation in Venezuela, even fully vaccinated travelers can be at risk of contracting and spreading COVID variants – 19 and should avoid all trips to Venezuela.

The CDC advises that those who must travel to Venezuela are fully vaccinated.

With information from EFE