The State Department warned Americans to refrain from traveling to Venezuela amid threats of detainment.
“As of Friday evening, there are no wrongfully detained Americans in Venezuela, and we want to keep it that way,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday. “We are committed to doing everything we can to prevent one American national from being wrongfully detained by the Venezuelan regime ever again. To this end, I want to reiterate our clear warning—no one should go to Venezuela.”
“We have the risk certainly of wrongful detention, of Americans, of dual nationals, of lawful permanent residents. Whoever you are, don’t go there,” she urged. “The risk is extremely high.”
Bruce reiterated that those who travel to Venezuela or nearby regions “risk being wrongfully detained for months or even years, and release is never a guarantee.”
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed home ten Americans detained in Venezuela.
“Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world,” he said on July 18. “It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed U.S. nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process. Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland.”
He added that the department’s “commitment to the American people is clear: we will safeguard the well-being of U.S. nationals both at home and abroad and not rest until all Americans being held hostage or unjustly detained around the world are brought home.”