Hi, I'm a graduate student getting my doctorate in history. I'm planning on some field research in Caracas this summer, and I wanted to get your perspective on CCS because the State Dept. has published some pretty dire warnings about the security situation at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía.

Have any of you traveled to/from CCS recently? The last time I was there was in 2000, so it has been a while.

I'm fluent in Spanish and have to deal with the lovely MEX every summer, so I'm pretty comfortable with large airports in Latin America. But I don't recall such strong language being used about CCS before. Thoughts?