Punto Fijo
Punto Fijo is the capital of the Carirubana Autonomous District in the Venezuelan state of Falcón .
At times it was the largest city on the Paraguaná peninsula with over 300,000 inhabitants and is located in its southwest on the Caribbean . One of the world's largest oil refinery complexes, the Paraguaná Refinery Complex , is located there.
history
The name of the city is often attributed to the late Rafael González Estaba, a city historian who claimed that the place where the city now stands used to be a common point of contact ("fixed point") for travelers and fishermen.
Punto Fijo was founded in the early 1940s surrounded by two refineries founded by Standard Oil and Shell at the same time. The city had (2002 census, estimate) a population of 270,000, most of whom lived in the city center.
economy
Punto Fijo has the world's largest oil refinery complex, the Paraguaná Refinery Complex. This includes the Amuay and Cardón refineries. The Creole Petroleum Corporation facility in Amuay ensured a "secure future". Even after the takeover by the state PDVSA in 1976, not much has changed for the time being. This oil complex remained the engine of the local and regional economy. In 2000, holidays abroad were still normal for refinery workers. The city also housed the second most important fishing fleet in the country and had an industrial park where electronics and light machinery plants were located.
The economy in Punto Fijo grew for a long time, and a free trade zone for tourism investments was also set up. In this it was possible to import goods (electrical appliances, alcoholic beverages, bed linen, etc.) tax-free. The ongoing development in Punto Fijo made it possible for the local, municipal and national authorities to finally carry out construction work that had been necessary for years, e.g. B. the central bus stop, road repairs or the construction of the “Josefa Camejo” thermoelectric plant. The private sector also made investments such as the Sambil Paraguaná shopping center and the Paraguná shopping center. Both complexes complemented the city's most important shopping center, the Centro Comercial y Las Recreacional Virtudes.
In 2012, an explosion following a gas leak in the refinery claimed 48 lives in an adjacent military facility.
In the wake of the economic crisis in Venezuela since 2013, the city began to decline. In 2018, hardly any cars drove past empty shops on the streets lined with sand dunes. The refinery was still producing 20 percent of its capacity. The labor force became scarce because thousands quit. The government itself lamented the missed investments, only in their eyes the fault was abroad, from which the "imperialist enemy", according to Maduro, had infiltrated the PDVSA with mafia-like forces who "deliberately refrained from investing in the oil industry in order to destroy it" . Since PDVSA was also in default of payment, it was hardly possible to pay for spare parts and service companies. For this reason, the refinery's pollutant tank could no longer be emptied; it therefore threatened the environment with every rain or flood.
traffic
Fijo Punto is criss-crossed by numerous avenues from north to south and east to west. The city is connected to Coro by a modern two-lane highway that crosses the entire island with a view of the Médanos National Park and all of the flora in the arid region. The city is served by Josefa Camejo International Airport.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 11 ° 43 ′ N , 70 ° 11 ′ W