Maracaibo (Venezuela) (AFP)

Lake Maracaibo (northwest), cradle of the Venezuelan oil industry, is experiencing the paradox of living without fuel: fishermen are doomed to sail and bus drivers now pedal bicycle taxis.

Franklin, 28, a thin fisherman with muscular arms, wanders off the shore at dawn in his small boat.

He made the oars himself and especially the removable double mast.

His sails?

Plastic canvas or sheets.

"We use the sail because there is no gasoline," he says, scooping up the water that seeps into his boat.

A few hours later, he brought out of the water seven croaker, a white-fleshed fish, and returned to Los Puertos de Altagracia, a village located about fifty kilometers southeast of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second largest city.

The return is long.

What he did in a few minutes with his engine now takes him much longer.

He can only rely on the wind and his arms.

"We got used to it," he says.

On arrival, he sells five fish and keeps two for the meal with his wife and two-year-old son.

Men fish in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, July 30, 2021 Luis BRAVO AFP

Some of his colleagues installed small propellers running on small motors, replacing their powerful outboard motors.

This artisanal device allows fishing with much less fuel.

4 liters are sufficient for an output against 20 with traditional engines.

- Imported gasoline -

Formerly free or very inexpensive, gasoline is now scarce and can be traded for up to two dollars a liter, a price considered exorbitant.

Once a rich oil country, Venezuela has seen its Gross Domestic Product fall by 80% since 2013 and 65% of households live in poverty.

Its oil production has risen from 3 million barrels per day to just over 500,000 while the capacity of local refineries has shrunk like a grain of salt for lack of investment and maintenance.

The government accuses international economic sanctions of having paralyzed production and refining.

The country is now forced to import gasoline.

Often fishermen borrow fuel from fish vendors, discounting a good day of fishing that earns $ 25 on a good day.

But, sometimes, the fisherman returns empty-handed or almost, and does not cover his expenses.

Fishermen on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, July 30, 2021 Luis BRAVO AFP

"Today, I lost gasoline and work ... I have hardly caught anything and I spent myself for nothing", says Jonathan, who shows, annoyed, a handful of rickety fish and two large shrimp.

In general, the fishermen sell their catch in Maracaibo but they now have to sleep in the old colonial town, due to lack of wind to reach Los Puertos de Altagracia.

Another paradox: if they are deprived of gasoline, they have to deal with leaks from boreholes.

Often dilapidated and poorly maintained, wells and pipelines regularly release crude, which forms oil slicks.

According to the NGO Azul Ambientalistas, there are 25,000 km of oil piping in the lake where the oil was discovered in 1914.

- By calf strength -

A family aboard a bicycle taxi on July 29, 2021 in Maracaibo, Venezuela Luis BRAVO AFP

In Maracaibo, mini-buses or buses have given way to bicycle taxis, bicycles transformed into pedal-powered scooters.

Manuel, 28, whose wife is expecting their first child, was driving a fifty-person bus.

He now lives by the strength of his calves.

"The owner of the bus stopped the activity for lack of gasoline," he said.

Aged 51, Hender Urdaneta is a member of a Bolivarian militia whose beret he proudly wears.

He also rides a bicycle taxi, inflation having reduced his income.

"I go out from time to time because I need the money to buy medicine for my wife who has only one kidney and can no longer work. I've been doing this for over a year," he said.

If he complains about his back, he refuses to consider leaving the country as did more than five of the 30 million Venezuelans during the crisis.

Neighboring Colombia alone has taken in 1.8 million Venezuelan immigrants.

A bicycle taxi on July 29, 2021 in Maracaibo, Venezuela Luis BRAVO AFP

Proud, the militiaman repeats his allegiance to President Nicolas Maduro: "I was born here, I will die here. With my boots on my feet. Like a soldier from the homeland, like a militiaman".

© 2021 AFP