Executive Travel to Venezuela: Security Solutions For Employers

Executive travel to Venezuela remains highly dangerous and unsafe for business and leisure travelers alike. With multiple travel advisories in place, anyone visiting this South American country will need to invest in a wide range of security services to ensure their safety. North American employers sending their workforce or executive teams here for the sake of business are exposing their workforce to risks of all kinds, especially if they fail to provide the right protection services.

As a country rich in natural resources such as petrol and steel, many North American corporations see an opportunity beyond the security risks. Sending executive teams abroad to inspect job sites and explore new opportunities can be done safely, but calls for extensive planning, monitoring, and security resources. As a country with one of the highest homicide rates in the world, corporations will need to address the risks head-on before conducting business here.

Is it Unsafe To Visit Venezuela?

While the risk of kidnapping against executives remains high in many South American countries, it is the declining infrastructure of the country that remains highly dangerous. Canadian and United States consulate services are incredibly limited in this country, while access to clean drinking water, food, and even gasoline is complicated by organized criminals stationed in small towns and major cities.

The country’s medical system poses its unique set of challenges, with general standards that are much lower than what is considered acceptable in North America. Many hospitals are poorly equipped with limited access to medication, as experiencing an injury or serious illness in Venezuela will call for relocation back to North America. Complex surgeries and medical procedures often cannot be completed by local hospitals and many traditional travel insurance policies will be voided upon entry because of travel advisories issued by both Canada and the United States to avoid all non-essential travel.

Organized crime creates serious risks for executive travelers, and visiting the country without a protective driver ready upon arrival presents extensive danger. Criminals often use the country’s international airport to target visitors for robberies and kidnapping attempts, targeting solo travelers and following them to their destination. Robberies and muggins can occur in broad daylight, on public transportation, or even in public shops that locals frequent.

Political Unrest in Venezuela

Beyond the country’s major cities, should business travelers be required to visit rural and less fortunate neighborhoods called “barrios,” it is likely to present risks of kidnapping and violent assault. In instances where tourists call upon local law enforcement for assistance, executives could extorted for money or wrongfully detained. Corruption amongst local law enforcement is common, and executive travelers should expect that local police will have limited, if not no solutions to travelers being robbed or assaulted.

Political Instability and The Risks to Executive Travelers

Venezuela remains in a contentious political crisis that sees protestors clash with local police while violence and arrests are incredibly common. Many local journalists are wrongfully detained for documenting these protests, while mass demonstrations can shut down entire city blocks, major highways, and access to airports. Without the right intelligence and security resources, executives can easily be lost in the chaos, especially when demonstrations occur with little warning.

Lean on a security company such as AFIMAC Global to help you plan for the unpredictable and sometimes lawless nature of travel to Venezuela. Ensuring the safety of the human resources who represent your company calls for full-service security details that can address every element of risk facing your team. AFIMAC is unique in that not only as a security company do we maintain resources directly in South America, but we can pair our intelligence gathering offerings to help predict political demonstrations and avoid them entirely.

Executive Travel To Venezuela: Security Solutions From AFIMAC Global

Explore protective driver solutions along with executive protection agents that accompany your teams through every moment of the travel process. Highly familiar with the nation’s roadways and various challenges, we remain highly capable of escorting them to whatever destination they need to visit. Such services help employers fulfill their duty of care obligations while actively deterring kidnapping attempts against executive teams. Invest in full-service executive travel services from AFIMAC and conduct business safely across South America. Such offerings are perfect for c-suite executives, journalists, and high-net-worth individuals visiting the country for work.

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