Maracaibo, Venezuela · UTC-4
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Maracaibo sits on the western shore of Lake Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela, above one of the western hemisphere’s largest oil reserves. It runs on Venezuela Standard Time, UTC-4, the fixed offset that Venezuela has kept year-round since 2007.
two clock changes and a net zero
Hugo Chávez moved Venezuela’s clocks back by 30 minutes in 2007, shifting from UTC-4 to UTC-4:30, citing agricultural rhythms and more efficient use of natural daylight. It was a controversial and internationally unusual move: Venezuela became one of a handful of countries in the world on a half-hour offset.
In 2016, under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela moved the clocks forward by 30 minutes again, back to UTC-4. The official reason was an electricity crisis: the change was said to save power by aligning with more daylight. The net effect of both changes was a return to the pre-Chávez offset, having spent nine years at UTC-4:30.
Maracaibo’s oil infrastructure, the derricks that dot the lake, operate on continuous shifts. The civil clock matters for administration and communication, while the wells themselves run on industrial time.
9am in Maracaibo is 1pm in London during European winter.
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Questions about time in Maracaibo
- What timezone is Maracaibo in?
- Maracaibo uses the IANA timezone
America/Caracas. The UTC offset is always UTC-4 — this timezone does not observe daylight saving time. - Does Maracaibo observe daylight saving time?
- No. Maracaibo does not observe daylight saving time. The UTC offset remains UTC-4 all year round.
- What is the current UTC offset for Maracaibo?
- Maracaibo is currently at UTC-4.
- What is the time difference between Maracaibo and London?
- Maracaibo is currently 5 hours behind London.
- What is the time difference between Maracaibo and Los Angeles?
- Maracaibo is currently 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles.
- What is the time difference between Maracaibo and Tokyo?
- Maracaibo is currently 13 hours behind Tokyo.
- What is the IANA timezone name for Maracaibo?
- The IANA timezone database identifier for Maracaibo is
America/Caracas. Use this string in programming languages and APIs: JavaScript (`new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', { timeZone: 'America/Caracas' })`), Python (`pytz.timezone('America/Caracas')`), or any IANA-compatible library.