The Venezuelan government has told its citizens to avoid travelling to the US, while urging those living there to leave immediately.
In a travel alert issued via a Telegram video on Sunday, the Venezuelan foreign ministry urged its compatriots to “protect their lives and those of their families and return to their homeland”.
It described the US as a “dangerous country where human rights do not exist for immigrants”.
“There is no American dream there, only nightmares. Our duty is to denounce this reality and demand respect for our compatriots,” the ministry said.
Foreign Minister Yván Gil claimed that it was dangerous to be a Latino, Afro-descendant or Venezuelan migrant in the US. “The police shoot first and ask questions later,” he said.
As evidence of the US’ persecution of migrants, Caracas cited the case of hundreds of migrants who were deported to a maximum security prison in El Salvador earlier this year.
Venezuela says the deportees are living “under inhumane conditions” and are being “subjected to psychological torture”.
Caracas’ travel warning comes after the US government issued its own alert last Tuesday, urging its citizens not to travel to Venezuela for any reason and to leave the country immediately because of the high risk of arbitrary detention.
The US State Department issued a statement highlighting “significant dangers” related to arbitrary arrests, criminal violence, and social instability within the Latin American nation.
As stated in the official document, Venezuela leads as the nation where the greatest number of US citizens are wrongfully imprisoned.
The United States doesn’t maintain an embassy or consulate in Venezuela, which means it can’t provide consular aid to Americans in that country.
The previous year, Venezuela’s autocratic president Nicolás Maduro took harsh measures against large-scale demonstrations that erupted after an contentious electoral win. International observers alleged that his government was involved in numerous violations of human rights.
