Two Countries Issue Travel Warnings Against the U.S. After Shootings in Texas and Ohio
Two countries in South America are warning their citizens about the potential dangers of travel to the United States.
Both Venezuela and Uruguay issued travel advisories to their citizens following the horrific mass shootings this week in Texas and Ohio that killed 31 people, according to The Washington Post.
A statement from the Venezuelan government read in part, “...Venezuelan citizens planning to travel to the territory of the United States of America [should] postpone their travel.” It additionally suggested that citizens “take precautions” given the “proliferation of acts of violence and crimes of indiscriminate hatred, expressed last weekend in the towns of El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.”
The release noted that these horrific acts are part of a larger issue of “racial discrimination and hatred against migrant populations,” in the United States. It added, “This year alone, these actions have cost the lives of more than 250 people.”
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The government of Uruguay echoed this sentiment in its own travel warning. It too noted the increasing "indiscriminate violence” and hate crimes fueled by “racism and discrimination that cost the lives of more than 250 people in the first seven months of this year.”
Uruguay warned its citizens to avoid highly populated places and events including theme parks, malls, art festivals, religious activities, food festivals, sports events, and mass protests, USA Today reported. It listed the U.S. as a level two travel warning, which urges citizens to “exercise caution.”
But, Uruguay and Venezuela aren’t alone in issuing warnings. According to The Los Angeles Times, the Japanese Consul in Detroit issued its own alert, telling Japanese nationals they “should be aware of the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United States.” It called the United States “a gun society.”
The Los Angeles Times noted that Uruguay and Venezuela aren’t the only countries to ever issue a warning. France, New Zealand, and Germany have all issued travel warnings to the United States in the past as well.
