The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has expanded its sternest warning for Venezuela, advising against all travel to Amazonas state and to anywhere within 25 miles of the Colombian border. The announcement, made on Wednesday 14 October, also keeps existing warnings in place for the rest of the country, including Zulia state, the city of Maracaibo and the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo.
The reasoning is straightforward: the FCDO says drug traffickers and illegal armed groups operate along Venezuela's frontiers with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana. The Orinoco Mining Arc, south of the Orinoco river, is singled out, with specific no-go areas covering Cedeño, Piar, Roscio, El Callo and Sifontes municipalities in full, plus parts of Sucre and Raul Leoni municipalities. Delta Amacuro is flagged for trafficking and armed group activity, while Zulia sees ongoing crime and violence.
Britons already in Venezuela are being told to keep a 'personal emergency plan' — practical steps for leaving the country or staying safe in a crisis that don't rely on British government help. That's a telling detail: the FCDO notes consular access in Venezuela may be severely limited, and conditions can shift quickly despite the security picture having improved in recent years.
So can you still go? Technically, yes — travelling against FCDO advice is not illegal. The real bite is financial: doing so will almost certainly invalidate your travel insurance, leaving you exposed if something goes wrong. The FCDO says it only issues the top-level warning when it judges the risk to British nationals unacceptably high, whether from conflict, unrest, disease or disaster. There's a faint silver lining: on 15 September the UK upgraded diplomatic relations with Venezuela, but the ministry is clearly not ready to soften its travel stance.
For anyone with Venezuela on their wishlist — Angel Falls, Los Roques, the Gran Sabana — the message for now is to hold off and watch for updates. Political and economic conditions remain volatile, and a 'do not travel' advisory covering huge swathes of the country means even the most intrepid traveller would be going uninsured and largely unsupported. Anyone already in-country should register their presence with the FCDO and keep exit options flexible.
