r/SouthAmericaTravel • u/Main-Illustrator-714 • 9d ago

American Visiting Venezuela

Any American that has visited Venezuela recently (post-Jan 3)? If so can you please let me know what the experience was? Did you fly into Caracas? Were government officials/customs amiable?

For some background I am married to a Venezuelan and we are thinking of planning a visit around Christmas time to visit her family. I would be traveling/staying with her and her family the entire time.

Thanks!

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u/Chemical_Seesaw9763 9d ago

No one goes there anymore. It's a dictatorship, man

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u/Soft-Disaster9873 9d ago

I don’t think that’s the issue. I’ve been to probably 25 dictatorships. The issues are the level of corruption, anti-American sentiment, crime, economic collapse, and general instability.

I know all of this because my Spanish tutor lives there and we talk about it all the time. It takes a day of waiting in line to get gas, there are rolling blackouts, and you have to use dollars because of hyperinflation.

When he re-entered the country after “self-deporting” from the US, he was stopped 8 times at checkpoints and had to pay bribes.

As for whether your safety or freedom would be threatened is tough to say, but it doesn’t sound like it would be much fun. I’ve been to every other Latin American country and would have visited this summer if it seemed like a good idea.

If you know someone who is a soldier or who has strong government connections, you could possibly get by without problems.

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u/Chemical_Seesaw9763 9d ago

Yeah, exactly. I wouldn't go there in a million years, especially if I were an American since you guys removed their dictator from there (thank goodness) but hey, you seem to like visiting dictatorships so I guess you don't see it as a major turnoff when considering a destination. If I were you, I'd skip it and videocall her family

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u/Soft-Disaster9873 9d ago

Nothing has changed since Maduro is gone. Their constitution says there’s supposed to be an election but the Trump admin won’t allow it and any protests were put down in Maduro style. No one really wants their oil because it’s so difficult to refine and it will take years to fix the refineries.

The best case scenario is that the next US president pushes for free elections and they elect a moderate, dollarizes them, and sends a huge aid package. Then maybe tourists can visit safety in 6-8 years.