Macuro

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Macuro (10.650º N - 61.934º W), a few miles from Bocas del Dragón, is a small fishing town overlooking a peaceful bay on the south-west side of the Paria peninsula, in Sucre state, Venezuela.

Macuro has the historical distinction of being the only part of the American continent visited by Christopher Columbus.^{[citation needed]} Columbus and his men spent a few days interacting with the natives. This took place in August 1498 during Columbus' third expedition to the Americas. Despite exploring this area of the continent for some time, Columbus thought that they were looking at a large island and named the area Isle of Grace.

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 and cotton. Towards the end of the 19th century the Venezuelan government decided to build a port to serving as 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 ordered to close the port and to stop all expansion activities. All the equipment and facilities were transferred to nearby Guiria.

Early in the 20th Century when seaplanes started to become the main means of air travel, Pan Am 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 extraction facility; it is the major source of jobs. The other main economic activity is fishing. The lack of job opportunities makes many young men to leave the town looking for employment elsewhere.

Due to its proximity to Trinidad and due to the presence in the area of many small vessels engaging in smuggling, the national guard permanently operates a small naval station with the purpose of permanently patrolling the area.

Each year a large number of sea turtles lay their eggs in the beaches of Macuro.