British FCO rescinds travel warning after Letter to VHeadline.com

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 5:16:01 PM By: Roy S. Carson

Britain's Foreign & Commonwealth Office has rescinded an advisory against travel to Venezuela after VHeadline.com published a Reader's Letter complaining that the restrictions were complicating matters for British and European tourists wishing to travel to the Caribbean paradise island of Margarita,  Canaima and Angel Falls in the rainforest region of  Venezuela's southeast ... hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of political unrest in Caracas.

An original advisory issued in December, had warned Britons against going to Venezuela because of "rising political tensions" after the opposition launched its anti-government "strike" with violent demonstrations.

The incidence of street crime in Venezuela is high and rising and the political situation remains volatile. British nationals are advised to exercise vigilance at all times. At this time it is difficult to buy or sell foreign currency legally in Venezuela. We therefore advise British visitors to obtain local currency where possible before travelling. While there have been some terrorist incidents in Venezuela we are not aware of any specific terrorist threat to British nationals in Venezuela.

The FCO said earlier today, Wednesday, that it had amended its travel advice with immediate effect and was downgrading warnings because the situation had improved.

The move follows a letter published in Tuesday editions of VHeadline.com Venezuela in which British travel expert Charlie Hopkinson had pointed out the knock-on inconveniences to Venezuelan tourism, especially concerning British tourists to Bolivar and Amazonas States as well as Isla de Margarita which have largely remained unaffected by the two-month opposition strike/stoppage which has recently self-imploded.  Hopkinson had written that the FCO "advice appears to be in conflict with what we are being told by a variety of sources in and around Venezuela.  Not only is this bad for our company, but ten times worse for Venezuela's lucrative tourist industry."