Maracaibo is known as the center of Venezuela’s oil industry, but a chronic fuel shortage has left fisherman Franklin Romero using a sailing boat.
By Digital Journal – Margioni Bermúdez
Aug 11, 2021
Venezuela sits on the largest proven oil reserves in the world but has fallen from a high of producing more than three million barrels of crude a day in 2014 to just over 500,000 today, meaning the country needs to import fuel.
Experts blame the government of President Nicolás Maduro for incompetent management and corruption.
Under the blazing sun of Venezuela’s northwestern Zulia state, Romero shows off the handmade oars he uses to propel his boat on Lake Maracaibo, one of the largest in South America.
“We use sails because there’s no fuel,” the wiry Romero told AFP as he returned from his fishing excursion.
He began work just before 6:00 am and returned to the shore in Los Puertos de Altagracia at 10:00 am with seven medium-sized croakers – a white meat fish that is popular locally.
The 28-year-old sold five and took two home to his wife and two-year-old daughter.
There was so little wind that he had to row out and back onto the lake, making for an arduous and long journey that used to take just minutes with a motor.
“It’s already normal to row or sail,” said Romero.
Most of the boats are adapted motorboats whose outboard motors have been removed and replaced with wooden masts and plastic sails, or propellers attached to a small motor.
These need only four liters of fuel compared to the 20 liters required for more powerful outboard motors.
– Constant oil spills –
Fuel has become a luxury in a region where few gas stations have supplies, while customer queues stretch for kilometers (miles) at the few that do have some.
While fuel used to be practically free for Venezuelans, it now costs $2 per liter on the black market, which is the only option for most people.
Maduro’s government blames US sanctions blocking the South American country from buying either fuel or unrefined petroleum.
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Read More: Digital Journal – Sailing boats and cycle rickshaws in oil-rich, fuel-light Venezuela region
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