Duke Imposes Restrictions on Travel to Venezuela

Duke moved this week to impose a full country restriction on travel to Venezuela based on the recommendation of the newly reconstituted Global Travel Advisory Committee (GTAC).

“In watching the rising tensions between the governments of the United States and Venezuela over the last week and the escalating murder and crime rate, we decided to convene a special GTAC meeting on Monday,” said Eric Mlyn, chair of the committee.  “We did the regular due diligence of collecting governmental alerts, advisories and warnings and also reached out to Patrick Duddy, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela.”

Duddy, who is currently director of the Duke Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, is regularly quoted by national reporters on events in Venezuela. “Restricting travel to Venezuela by undergraduate students is a prudent move at this time,” he said.

“We’re actively seeking input from country experts that are here at Duke,” said Christy Parrish Michels, travel policy administrator.  “Not only does the committee get first-hand accounts from people who know these countries the best, those people become a part of the process and their awareness of restrictions that affect their students is raised.”

Duke will directly communicate with any known travelers planning to visit Venezuela.

If you have any questions or would like to request further information, email Christy.parrish@duke.edu.