Caracas Chronicles

The Local Dispatch features selected stories from local journalists and media organizations who are reporting news from deep inside Venezuela. These are the types of stories that have no visibility abroad, even when they paint the most accurate picture of what’s actually happening in the country. The dispatch is published weekly.

Explosion in Cabimas: Timeline of another incident faced by PDVSA in Zulia

In the early hours of Tuesday, a tank storing 75,000 barrels of crude oil exploded after being struck by lightning at PDVSA’s La Salina terminal in Cabimas. By 7:20 am, the Cabimas Firefighter Commander reported that the situation was under control and there was no need to evacuate residents. However, at 10:50 a.m., Versión Final reported that firefighters lacked sufficient water and foam to put out the blaze. Around noon, a second explosion occurred, injuring 26 people with first and second-degree burns, according to Fe y Alegría. That night, the National Journalists’ Association requested water, Gatorade, and food for the firefighters battling the blaze, which was finally extinguished over 24 hours later, around 8 am on Wednesday, according to El Regional del Zulia. PDVSA attributed the incident to “extreme atmospheric conditions” and claimed “there were no third-party damages,” despite the 26 injured.

Reuters oil reporter Marianna Párraga noted that frequent incidents like this “usually disrupt operations, and the infrastructure rarely fully recovers.” The explosion shocked the residents of Cabimas, who spent the day watching thick black smoke spread across the town.

This is the second major incident in the Lake Maracaibo region in less than a month. On September 26, a barge contracted by PDVSA for well maintenance sank, killing six workers, according to a survivor’s testimony shared by La Verdad.

Forced displacement, precarity, and repression on ‘Indigenous Resistance Day’

What can you do when your ancestral lands are occupied by armed groups, and the state oppresses you from the most remote parts of the country? For several indigenous groups, the only option seems to be migrating to the cities, as Hiwi (Jiwi) and Yaruro (Pume) people seeking refuge in San Fernando de Apure told Radio Fe y Alegría while cooking on the stands of an abandoned basketball court. “I am someone looking for an environment where we, or at least I, can eventually have some land,” said Antonio Paz, one of the displaced. “I can’t live here like this because this is not a plot where you can just build a proper shack.”

Meanwhile, authorities in Barranquilla have announced plans to deport 219 Yukpa indigenous people from Perijá who have gathered in the city in search of better opportunities. “They resort to child begging, cleaning car windows, and asking for alms. That’s not acceptable in our city, which is constantly progressing,” said the city’s Chief of Social Management to Emisora Atlántico.

“This is not a day to celebrate,” declared Olnar Ortiz, a Baré indigenous leader and Foro Penal coordinator on Indigenous Peoples. As El Diario reported, the recent post-electoral repression also affected six indigenous protesters from Amazonas, who were arrested and transferred to Tocorón prison on September 4.

Food producers warn of massive farmer exodus

More than 2,600 corn producers have abandoned cultivation over the past four years, according to Celso Fantinel in El Siglo, president of Venezuela’s Confederation of Agricultural Producers (Fedeagro). The same is happening with rice and coffee farmers, who are forced to sell their products in bolívares, making it impossible to recover their investment due to inflation and exchange rate gaps.

Tal Cual reports that the official minimum price for a ton of corn is $360-380, but industrial buyers currently pay between $315 and $320. “If we don’t reach agreements with the agro-industry on these three crops, the future planting seasons are in doubt,” Fantinel warned.

Osman Quero, vice president of Fedeagro and president of Fedecámaras Portuguesa, echoed this concern, highlighting the anxiety caused by receiving payments in bolívares for investments made in dollars. “The exchange rate difference between the Central Bank’s rate and the parallel market can determine the business’s profitability,” Quero said in September via X. He also noted that, while domestic producers have made dollar investments to improve yields and are still paid in bolívares, importers are paid in foreign currency in advance and the agro-commercial sector sells goods in dollars.

Suggested reads:

• Runrunes: Political prisoners in Tocorón face inhumane pressure to confess to crimes they didn’t commit. Family visits only add to the anguish due to the oppressive conditions.
• El Carabobeño: A day filled with power outages hit 10 states, including Caracas, underscoring the ongoing crisis in Venezuela’s electrical grid.
• Correo del Caroní: In Guayana, pro-Chavista union leaders hold covert meetings to maintain control over the Workers’ Productive Councils.
• Crónica Uno: In Punta de Araya, the residents of El Yaque have launched an environmental project aimed at collecting waste and securing adequate lighting.