Macuro, a town in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, located a few miles from

Bocas del Dragón The Bocas del Dragón (Dragon's Mouths) is the name of the series of straits separating the Gulf of Paria from the Caribbean Sea. There are four Bocas, from west to east: * The Boca Grande or Grand Boca separates Chacachacare from the Paria Penins ...

, is a small fishing town overlooking a peaceful bay on the south-west side of the

Paria peninsula The Paria Peninsula () is a large peninsula on the Caribbean Sea, in the state of Sucre in northern Venezuela. Geography Separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Paria, the peninsula is part of the mountain range, in the Venezuelan Co ...

, in

Sucre state The Sucre State ( es, Estado Sucre, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Cumaná city. Sucre State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 896,921. The most important river in ...

A small mission-town was formally established in 1738 under the name of San Carlos Barromeo de Macuro. The town numbered over 1,000 people who lived off the harvest of

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Venezuelan government decided to build a port to serve as an intermediate transfer point for cargo. In 1903, president Cipriano Castro inaugurated the Cristobal Colon port. Its deep waters were ideal for receiving large ships. The town became the capital of Cristobal Colon Federal Territory and enjoyed a considerable level of activity. However in 1935, president

Juan Vicente Gómez Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air ...

ordered the port to be closed, and stopped all expansion activities. All the equipment and facilities were transferred to nearby

Güiria Güiria is the capital city of Valdez Municipality in the Venezuelan state of Sucre. Güiria was the place where the military campaign for South American independence set out to Upper Peru and also a starting point of the 1901 Venezuelan Civil W ...

. Early in the 20th Century, when

seaplanes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

started to become the main means of air travel,

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

used the bay of Macuro as the place where its passengers to Trinidad would disembark, due to the serenity of its waters; from there they would be taken by boat to the island a few miles away. Macuro never had any terrestrial links, and all communications were by sea. This changed in the year 2000 when a small road connecting the town to Guiria, 65 kilometers away, was opened. Today the population of Macuro is under 2,400 people. A cement company owns a

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

extraction facility there; it is the major source of jobs. The other main economic activity is fishing. The lack of job opportunities causes many young men to leave the town, seeking employment elsewhere.

Luis Estaba Luis Alberto Estaba (born August 13, 1938) is a former boxer from Venezuela, who was born in Macuro, South American point of entry for Cristopher Columbus. He was nicknamed ''Lumumba'', because of his resemblance to Congolese leader Patrice Lu ...

is one of the famous people to be born in the Macuro are

Because of its proximity to

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and the presence of many small vessels engaged in narcotraffic and smuggling in the area, the National Guard permanently operates a small naval station with the purpose of patrolling the area. Each year, a large number of sea turtles lay their eggs in the beaches of Macuro.

References

External links

Map of Sucre state showing the location of MacuroMacuro tourism foundation
{{Coord, 10, 39, N, 61, 56, W, region:VE_type:city, display=title Populated coastal places in Venezuela Populated places in Sucre (state) Populated places established in 1738 1738 establishments in the Spanish Empire