Cabimas

Devotees bathed a statue of San Benito de Palermo with gallons of rum during a procession honoring the patron saint of Cabimas, Venezuela.

Devotees douse a statue of their patron saint with gallons of rum in Cabimas, Venezuela, while University of Southern California football players pour a bucketful of eggnog on their coach after winning the Holiday Bowl.

In Cabimas, David Colina, 46, a fisherman, wears oil-stained orange overalls with the distinctive emblem of the state oil company.

The poor maintenance of the fuel production machinery in Lake Maracaibo has led to an increase in oil spills, which have contaminated Cabimas and other communities along its shoreline, according to local organizations focusing on the issue.

Cabimas, a city about 400 miles northwest of Caracas on the shores of Lake Maracaibo, is another center of regional oil production.