A Fox News reporter warned Americans in Venezuela that the country has become a “very risky place.”
Chief international correspondent Steve Harrigan’s caution comes as the U.S. Embassy issued an advisory on Saturday to American citizens in Venezuela, cautioning them to shelter in place after the U.S. military launched deadly strikes around Caracas.
“We do know that the U.S. Embassy is warning U.S. citizens in Caracas and Venezuela not to travel and to shelter in place during this time for their own safety,” overnight host Chanley Painter said to Harrigan on Fox News program The Ingraham Report on Saturday. “...We will likely continue to see the fallout from this action.”
“This is a government that can do what it wants on the ground,” Harrigan replied. “It can throw Americans in jail. It can throw political opposition leaders in jail. It can jail anyone who it wants to jail.”
Harrigan added that “the noose is getting tighter” regarding travel in and out of the country.
“It’s a very risky place,” Harrigan said. “And also, the air service in and out has been cut back dramatically. And also, the shipping has been cut back dramatically. This is a country, a regime that runs on oil and on exporting oil. So the noose is getting tighter, not only around but around Venezuela’s economy and around basically getting in and out of Venezuela. So this is a pot that is boiling.”
The U.S. embassy previously urged Americans not to travel to Venezuela in December due to “high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure.” It also advised citizens who were already in the country to depart immediately.
Several Americans were detained in the lead-up to Maduro’s capture amid Trump’s ongoing attacks against the South American country. Out of five known prisoners, a U.S. government official told the New York Times that two may have been wrongfully detained. The Trump Administration has previously suggested that Maduro’s regime was arresting U.S. citizens to use as leverage.
The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. aircraft from entering Venezuelan airspace following the military operation, making it difficult for Americans in the country to leave quickly. The U.S. Embassy shut down operations in Venezuela in 2019 and stated on its website that it has “no ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Venezuela.”
The U.S. military executed a military operation in Caracas early Saturday morning. Trump announced the capture of Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, shortly after.
The Venezuelan president was flown out of the country to face charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump carried out the operation without informing Congress.
The Maduro regime issued a statement following the president’s capture, condemning the move as a “flagrant violation” of Articles 1 and 2 of the U.N. charter guaranteeing the right to sovereignty.
“The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, by attempting to forcibly break the political independence of the Nation,” it said. “They will not succeed.”
