2 countries warn against traveling to US following mass shootings

Two Latin American countries have issued travel warnings about the U.S. following the string of mass shootings across the country.

Oakland is one of the places specifically mentioned as one of the cities to avoid, along with Detroit and Baltimore, citing the high crime rates in these cities.

Venezuela and Uruguay have warned their citizens not to travel to the U.S. or to exercise caution if they do by avoiding areas with large crowds such as malls and festivals.

According to a translation from the Associated Press, Uruguay's Foreign Ministry mentioned the "indiscriminate possession of firearms" in the U.S. in their warning and the government of Venezuela advised its citizens to postpone travel in light of "violence and indiscriminate hate crimes."

Both Venezuela and Uruguay have been the focus of U.S. State Department travel warnings or advisories. Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The U.S. State Department recently changed the travel advisory level for Uruguay from Level 1 to Level 2 because of crime.

Still, Chris Rogers -- who lives in San Rafael and was traveling out of SFO on Wednesday -- said he doesn't think these countries' warnings are too extreme.

"I think it's sad that this is the point our country is at and that's how people feel about coming here," Rogers said.

When asked if he thinks people should be cautious, he said: "You should be cautious about traveling anywhere, but with everything going on, yeah."

The Associated Press Contributed to this report.