Central and South America

Security

There is an increased, global risk of terrorism. No country is immune from a terrorist attack, and no person is immune from becoming a victim of an attack. Terrorists have little regard for civilian casualties and in many cases, attacks are designed to maximise casualties.

Although New Zealand travellers are unlikely to be targeted deliberately, they are usually indistinguishable from any "western" tourist, and frequent places where other western tourists are found. This puts New Zealanders at the same risk as others.

Wherever you are, you should keep yourself informed about the latest alerts and stay aware of your surroundings in areas where large numbers of people congregate, such as shopping malls, markets, monuments, demonstrations and on any public transport.

Foreigners have been caught up in kidnappings and bombings in a number of Central and South American countries, most notably in Colombia and Peru where the Shining Path is active in remote coca growing areas in the central region. The FARC, which conducts frequent bombing campaigns, is active in Colombia.

"Express kidnappings" where foreigners are abducted and forced to withdraw money from ATMs are on the increase in Brazil.

Drug cartels also have a major presence across South America and the extreme violence associated with them can occur without warning. Recent violence driven by criminal elements in Sao Paulo is evidence of this.

Extreme risk