HQtest International today strongly advises U.S. citizens against all travel to Venezuela, echoing the U.S. Department of State’s May 12, 2025, Travel Advisory Level 4: Do Not Travel. The advisory underscores extreme dangers including wrongful detention, torture, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, widespread crime, civil unrest, and critically degraded health infrastructure. All U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are urged to depart Venezuela immediately and avoid any travel there for any reason.

U.S. diplomatic operations in Venezuela remain suspended. There is no functioning embassy or consulate in Caracas, and the U.S. government cannot provide routine or emergency consular services to Americans in the country. U.S. citizens detained by Venezuelan authorities face prolonged, incommunicado detention, with no guaranteed contact with family, private counsel, or U.S. officials.

Border regions with Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana are particularly hazardous. Many crossings lack clear demarcation—accidental entry into Venezuelan territory can lead to arbitrary arrest on charges ranging from terrorism to drug trafficking. There is no safe land, air, or maritime route into Venezuela, and ongoing shortages of fuel, power, water, and medical supplies exacerbate the risks for travelers and residents alike.

Compounding the security concerns, U.S. officials have deployed three Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyers—the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Sampson—along with roughly 4,000 military personnel, maritime patrol aircraft, and undersea assets to positions just outside Venezuela’s territorial waters. While publicly framed as part of an anti-narcotics mission targeting “narco-terrorist” organizations, the scale and proximity of this naval presence have sharply escalated bilateral tensions and prompted warnings of potential maritime incidents.

In response, President Nicolás Maduro announced the mobilization of more than 4.5 million civilian militiamen across Venezuela, pledging to arm them with rifles and short-range missiles to defend the nation’s coasts, skies, and lands against what he termed an “imperial threat.” Caracas has denounced the U.S. naval deployment as a pretext for intervention, raising the specter of a direct military confrontation in the near future.

Security analysts caution that the combination of suspended diplomatic protection, deteriorating domestic stability, and forward-deployed U.S. naval forces creates a highly volatile environment. They advise U.S. citizens to treat the Level 4 advisory as urgent: do not travel to Venezuela under any circumstances, and depart immediately if already in the country. Reliance on U.S. government assistance in the event of detention, injury, or evacuation is not possible at this time.