00:00It's the heart of Venezuela's oil region, but now the Sea of Maracaibo is littered with the remains of busier times.
00:09While on land, homes built for workers stand empty and abandoned.
00:14Yet many retirees and workers from state oil company PDVSA are hoping that sweeping oil sector reforms
00:21triggered by last month's U.S. intervention in the country will finally boost the value of their wages and pensions.
00:28Among them is Jose Luis Galindo from nearby Ciudad Ojeda.
00:33The retired petroleum engineer spent decades at the firm and says he's willing to return to work to help rebuild the sector.
00:42If they ask me to return, well, we would have to see under what conditions one would return,
00:46because I believe the most important thing is that the people who are there understand that we're not going to take their positions.
00:52We're going to help them rebuild as quickly as possible, because we're on our way out.
01:02Last week, Venezuela's lawmakers passed a sweeping reform of the country's oil law.
01:08The measure will cut taxes, grant more autonomy to private producers, and allow the transfer of assets.
01:14The changes follow the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro last month and U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal of a $100 billion energy reconstruction plan.
01:32Still, caution remains, especially for retirees like Ender Perea, who spent 38 years at PDVSA.
01:41The future is uncertain. We can be very optimistic, but we cannot fool ourselves.
01:47That is my perception. That is my vision. But it is not easy.
01:52Analysts estimate Venezuelan inflation hit about 400% last year, deepening the erosion of paychecks and retirement income.
02:03Now, the reforms aim to revive oil and gas output and attract foreign investment to an industry that has been state-controlled for two decades,
02:12ever since the government expropriated assets from foreign firms including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
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