The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of Colombia, and against all travel to Venezuela's border regions with Colombia. The advisory was last updated on 4 August 2026, with new information added around the presidential inauguration held on Friday 7 August and the enhanced security and planned demonstrations that came with it.
The named areas carry the weight. The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to Norte de Santander department, including the city of Cucuta, to Arauca department, to Puerto Carreno in Vichada, and to areas within 5km of the Venezuela border, alongside a longer list of regions near the Panama and Ecuador borders and on the Pacific. Land crossings into Venezuela should not be used.
Kidnapping is the sharper concern for anyone moving personnel or clients through the country. The FCDO assesses that kidnapping rates remain high and widespread, that express kidnappings are common, and that British nationals are seen as legitimate targets, including tourists, humanitarian aid workers, journalists and business travellers. It also assesses that terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks, and that many armed groups remain active across the country despite the 2016 peace agreement. Drugs, organised crime and armed activity are closely linked.
Operator implication: a new administration taking office is a transition window, and demonstration and disruption risk can run past the inauguration itself. For clients with exposure, the planning baseline is journey management that keeps movement out of the named border departments, a hard no on Venezuela land crossings, express-kidnap countermeasures built into ground transport, and a kidnap-for-ransom contingency covering proof of life and a response retainer. Duty-of-care sign-off should reflect the advise-against position on the areas concerned, which carries insurance and liability weight.
