The serious economic crisis that the country is going through also affects the sailors who are part of the floating market of La Vela, in Falcón State, and who had planned to reactivate their commercial activities this April 3rd after the gradual reopening of the border with the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao).
By La Patilla
Apr 03, 2023
Although everything was on track to open international trade that has been traditional in La Vela, this was not possible, mainly because the sailors have not been able to acquire an insurance policy with a minimum coverage of $15,000, which is a requirement to dock imposed by the island of Curaçao.
They assure that little by little they have been obtaining the required documentation and everything else that the island requires, but it is not easy in view of the conditions in which the country finds itself and after being unemployed for four years, without work.
The border closure, decreed in 2019 by Nicolás Maduro, caused the decline of the economy in the port of La Vela, since most families lived from the commercial exchange between Falcón and the islands.
This allowed growth and improvement in its inhabitants, but when the border closure was decreed, everything went downhill.
Boats were lost, others are receiving minor and major maintenance in which they have spent up to 25,000 (US) dollars.
To this we must add the documentation required by the island for the crew of the boats, since although they do not need a visa to enter, they must have a worker insurance policy, valid passport, marine ID and comply with all the updated courses to become part of the crew.
The trade was expected to restart this Monday, April 3rd, with the opening of the border, but this did not happen, because they do not have an insurance policy that must cover at least 15,000 (US) dollars for each sailor and for that they need about 250 dollars per crew member.
Eli Quiñones, president of the “Fundación Barquitos de Venezuela” believes that after this Easter the sailors will already have obtained their insurance policies because there are four boats ready to start the commercial exchange.
He said the boat owners are also doing business with suppliers because they don’t have the $7,000 they need for the merchandise they plan to ship, not to mention the $3,000 that would be spent on fuel alone.
“It hasn’t been easy, but it’s not impossible either. I think we have come a long way compared to when we started the preparations, when we had nothing. We have found help in the Falcón State government, which is also interested in making trade active again,” he said.
Quiñones assured that there are four boats ready to set sail that are only waiting for the sailors to meet the requirements.
The other boats continue to work on the requirements, like their workers, to add to this trade within the next days.
He believes that by Monday, April 10th, the first trip would be taking place and the others would be added later. So far there are 390 registered sailors and 43 vessels.
At the National Institute of Aquatic Spaces (Inea), they told lapatilla.com that they continue to train sailors in refresher courses, while they wait for some boats that have not been fumigated.
La Vela is located 45 nautical miles from Curacao. Its floating market was the door to commercial tourism, cultural exchange and even medical exchange that has been going on for many years.
This market was closed in 2019, when Nicolás Maduro decreed the closure of the border due to the looting of public services equipment of Falcón State and which were sold on the island of Aruba as scrap.
This measure affected the economy of Falcón in many ways and also that of the island, which weekly received fruits, vegetables, and fish at an excellent prices and of very good quality.
Currently, the inhabitants of La Vela yearn to return to the good times, since the economy of the town depend ended mostly on this trade that provided economic stability to many families.
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