A surprising treasure, gold-rush for villagers in Venezuela has changed their lives in a country who are suffering badly due to the chronic economic crisis and the effects of COVID-19. A fisherman who Raked his hand through the sand, pulled up a medallion with an inscription of Virgin Mary. 

The village of Guaca which was earlier the center of Venezuela’s fish processing industry but is now reduced to penury by the lack of gasoline and the closure of most of its small fish-packing plants. In the midst of such miseries, the Gold valuable find seemed like a miracle. “I began to shake, I cried from joy,” said Lares, 25. “It was the first time something special has happened to me.” At home, Lares told his father-in-law, also a fisherman. Words spread fast and almost 2,000 residents had joined the treasure hunt, combing every inch of the waterfront, digging around dilapidated fishing boats, even sleeping on the beach to protect their few square feet of sand and the untold fortune the plot could contain. 

Since late September, hundreds of pieces of gold and silver jewellery, ornaments, and golden nuggets that washed up on their shore, Preventing the Venezuela people suffer worst. Most of the villagers say they have found at least one precious object, usually a gold ring, with unconfirmed reports that some had sold their discoveries for as much as $1,500. No one knows where the gold came from and how it ended up scattered along a few hundred feet of Guaca’s narrow, workaday beach. 

Government opponents said officials may have sprinkled the gold on the beach to calm protests by local residents against the terrible living conditions. Some villagers called the gold a blessing, others say it as a curse that would doom anyone touching it. The source of Guaca’s treasure may never be known. Most of the villagers immediately sold the objects they discovered to buy food. The village’s situation has looked up since the appearance of gold. Sardines have come back to Guaca’s shores after a four-month absence, and the gasoline supply has improved slightly.

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