The United States’ reasons why it recommends not traveling to Colombia

Through a statement, the United States Department of State reported that the recommendation to travel to Colombia had been updated. Now, Colombia is located at level 3, that is, in which travelers are asked to “reconsider traveling” to this country.

In the statement, the government of Washington argues that the reasons for this decision is the incidence of the COVID-19 virus in the country and the increase in violence in some areas.

“Colombia has lifted its stay-at-home orders and resumed some transportation and business operations”, is one of the caveats in the note.

The US government confirmed that the decision to recommend not traveling to Colombia is also related to the travel advisory issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Precaution (CDC, in English) from the US, which has also placed Colombia in category 3 due to the pandemic.

In Colombia, until Friday, October 30, a total of 1,063,151 cases of contagion have been reported, of which 70,130 are active cases. Those who have recovered from the disease are 959,433, while the fatalities have been 31,135. Every day, in Colombia more than 100 people are dying from the coronavirus and more than 8 thousand new cases are reported.

The other reason that led the US State Department to classify Colombia as a country to which it should “reconsider travel” is the increased violenceAccording to the statement, travelers should “exercise greater caution in Colombia due to crime, terrorism and kidnappings. Some areas have increased the risk ”.

The Colombian areas in which, according to the United States government, there is a greater risk of suffering crimes related to terrorism or where kidnapping has increased are: Arauca, Cauca, Chocó, Nariño and Norte de Santander, regions of the country to which it advises not to go, with the exception of the municipalities of Cúcuta, Popayán and Nuquí.

In the statement they also invited “Reconsider the trip to various departments in the country due to crime and terrorism”, such as Antioquia outside of Medellín; Caquetá; Casanare; Cesar out of Valledupar, his capital; Córdoba outside of Montería; Guainia; Guaviare; Goal; Putumayo; Vaupés, and Vichada, among others.

According to the U.S. Foreign Ministry in those areas of Colombia homicides, extortions, robberies and kidnappings have become common.

The State Department also warned on the presence of guerrillas and armed groups that still commit crimes in the country. “Although the Government of Colombia signed a peace agreement with the terrorist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) some dissident groups refuse to demobilize ”.

In the note they specifically alerted that the National Liberation Army (ELN) “continues to plan attacks.” “They can attack without any or little warning targets such as tourist sites, transportation centers, markets / shopping centers, local governments, facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports and other public areas ”.

For its part, The United States broke a new record for the pandemic this Friday, October 30, by exceeding 94 thousand new cases reported in one day, the highest had been the previous day with more than 91 thousand. While this Friday it passed 9 million positive cases of coronavirus and reached 229,347 deaths.

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