The US government has updated its travel advisories, adding a prominent tourist destination to its ‘do not travel’ list.
On May 27, the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, advised American citizens to refrain from traveling to the country and the adjacent border areas with ‘Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana’ for ‘any reason.’
This warning has been a long-standing directive from the State Department due to ongoing political unrest and significant crime rates. The government has highlighted several risks for US travelers, such as wrongful detention and kidnapping.
Venezuela is not the only nation flagged by the US government for potential dangers to tourists. The State Department’s Travel Advisory List is frequently revised to reflect the risks posed by various countries to American travelers.
There are additional countries on this list that US citizens have been advised to avoid.
The State Department categorizes countries with levels ranging from one to four, where one indicates ‘exercise normal precautions’ and four signifies a ‘do not travel’ advisory.
The department’s website notes that these levels are periodically reassessed: levels one and two every 12 months, and levels three and four at least every six months.
The US government has issued strong advisories against any travel to Ukraine and Russia due to the ongoing conflict between these countries.
Other nations with a ‘do not travel’ warning from the US include Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Libya, and Burkina Faso.
The State Department also cautions against traveling to Yemen, citing ‘terrorism, civil unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, armed conflict, and landmines.’
Travel to North Korea is strongly discouraged by the US government, which states: “Do not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful detention of US nationals. Do not travel to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for any reason.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also on the ‘do not travel’ list due to ‘armed conflict, crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and terrorism.’
Syria is similarly advised against due to the ongoing risk of ‘terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, hostage-taking, armed conflict, and unjust detention.’
Here is the complete list of countries that the US has placed under a ‘do not travel’ advisory: