Foreign Countries Warn Citizens About Visiting U.S. Due To Threat Of Mass Shootings

Officials in foreign countries are warning their citizens about visiting the United States after two mass shootings in one weekend left 31 people dead.

Both Venezuela and Uruguay issued formal travel warnings on Monday, specifically citing violence and hate crimes.

Uruguay urged travelers to take precautions “in the face of growing indiscriminate violence, mostly for hate crimes, including racism and discrimination, which cost the lives of more than 250 people in the first seven months of this year,” according to a press release on the official website of the country’s president, Tabaré Vázquez.

The South American nation highlighted destinations such as Detroit, Baltimore, and Albuquerque, citing data from the CEOWORLD magazine that lists those locations among the world’s 20 most unsafe cities.

The U.S. State Department issued its own travel warning against Uruguay just last week, urging Americans to be aware of possible criminal activity when visiting the country.

Venezuela took its advisory against the U.S. even further than Uruguay, suggesting its citizens postpone trips to America after recent “acts of violence.”

“These increasing acts of violence have found an echo and support in the conversations and actions impregnated by racial discrimination and hatred against migrant populations, pronounced and executed by the supremacist elite who holds political power in Washington,” the statement from Venezuela’s foreign ministry said.

The warning is even starker when considering Venezuela’s own status as a dangerous travel destination. The 2019 Global Peace Index ranked the country as one of 20 least safe places in the world.

In April, the U.S. issued a Level 4 travel advisory for Venezuela, the highest threat ranking available. A Level 4 threat is defined by the State Department as “Do Not Travel.”

Last weekend’s shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, brought the total number of mass shootings in the U.S. this year to 255, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit organization defines a mass shooting as any incident in which at least four people are shot, not including the shooter.

The El Paso shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, as the gunman left behind a manifesto specifically blaming immigrants and Hispanics for issues in the U.S. A motive behind the Dayton shooting has not yet been determined.