Breaking · Safety & Advisories

Britain Just Widened Its Venezuela Warning, and the Real Risk Is Your Travel Insurance

The FCDO now advises against all travel to Amazonas and a 40km Colombian border zone. Here is what that does to your insurance and your flight plans.

By Kevin Crow · Oct 15, 2026

The UK Foreign Office updated its Venezuela advice on 14 October 2026: it now advises against all travel to Amazonas state and to within 40km of the Colombian border. For a British traveller the practical consequence is financial, because the FCDO states that…

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Is the whole of Venezuela now off limits?

No. The FCDO still splits the country into a "against all travel" tier and an "against all but essential travel" tier, and the October change moved Amazonas and the Colombian border strip into the stricter one. Everywhere else, Caracas and Maracaibo included…

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What happens to your travel insurance?

The FCDO page says your policy could be invalidated if you travel against its advice, and it adds that insurance should cover your itinerary, planned activities and emergency expenses. Many policies treat an "against all travel" area as excluded, and some…

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What if you are already there or already booked?

The FCDO says British nationals should have a personal emergency plan that does not depend on support from the UK government, so assume help will be limited. The page gives assistance numbers of +58 (0) 212 263 8411 from Venezuela and +44 (0) 207 008 5000…

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How should you check before you book anywhere risky?

Read the live FCDO page for your destination on the day you pay and again before you fly, because advice can change with little warning, as it did here. Then email your insurer, quote the FCDO wording, and keep the answer. We apply the same habit to remote…

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