The State Department is increasing efforts to dissuade Americans to travel to Venezuela after revealing on Tuesday that the country is unjustly imprisoning more Americans than any other country.
“There are more American citizens in prisons in Venezuela than any other country,” said Adam Boehler, the special presidential envoy of the Trump administration for hostage recovery.
“And these are not people who did something wrong,” he continued. “His only problem is that they are Americans. Venezuela takes more Americans than any other country for that unique reason.”
While the State Department has not revealed exactly how many US citizens are behind bars in Venezuela, it is known that at least eight Americans are arrested in the country.
The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, speaks with supporters while celebrating the results of the parliamentary and regional elections in the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, on May 25, 2025.
Federico Parra/AFP through Getty Images
The State Department has classified Venezuela under its most severe travel advice, “Level 4: No Travel”, since February 2019. But on Tuesday, the United States embassies in Colombia, Guyana, Brazil and Aruba and the Venezuelan Affairs Unit of the State Department reissued the warning in an attempt to reach more Americans.
“There is no safe way for Americans to travel to Venezuela,” said a state department spokesman. “American citizens, dual nationals and permanent legal residents should avoid traveling to Venezuela at all costs. No trip is worth the price of freedom.”
The Americans often travel to Venezuela with loved ones or families of couples or to see them. However, these loved ones face risks similar to those of their US contacts.
“Family members and partners of US citizens are often arrested together with the US traveler. Visiting Venezuela puts other people at risk,” added the official.
In this archive photo of March 17, 2025, President Donald Trump talks to the media with Richard Grenelll, president of the Kennedy Center Trustees Board, in Washington, DC
Somodevilla/Getty Images, file
The State Department also warns of US citizens who, in some cases, even proximity to the Venezuelan border has led to the arrest of the country’s government.
That is what happened to Lucas Hunter, a double American and 37 -year -old French citizen who was captured by the Venezuelan government in January while on a Windsurf trip in Colombia.
Hunter’s family said he never intended to visit Venezuela, but that the country’s border guards coerced him through the border.
Although Hunter remains in Venezuelan custody, the Trump administration has successfully negotiated the release of seven other Americans.
In this archive photo of March 6, 2025, American sent for the hostages Adam Boehler speaks during a hostage of the USA. UU. And a ceremony for the elevation of the unfair detainee flag in the Washington State Department, DC
Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Images, Archive
In January, the special presidential envoy of the Trump Administration for Special Missions Richard Grenell generally made a high profile trip to Venezuela, where he met with the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, face to face.
At the end of the visit, Grenell returned to the United States with six American released.
Last week, Grenell announced in an X publication that another American detained in Venezuela, veteran of the United States Air Force, Joseph St. Clair, had been released. The Trump administration has said that it has not offered concessions to the Maduro regime in exchange for freeing US citizens.
“That should continue. He must continue,” Boehler said about the releases during an interview with ABC News. “Every country in the world needs to know that it cannot have any relationship with the United States if you have American citizens.”
