Venezuela has adopted an offset time zone, becoming the only country in the Americas with an offset time zone (excluding a small part of Canada). Established by their dynamic President Hugo Chavez in December 2007, Venezuela's offset time zone makes it a half hour earlier than Guyana to the east and a half hour later than Colombia to the west. Caracas, the capital, is nearly midway between the 60 and 75 degree centers of Venezuela's neighboring time zones so for the capital the change makes sense but the outlying parts of the country on the east and west won't benefit as much. What do you think? Post your comments below...
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So what?
It makes sense to do this and unify the country on one time zone without hurting the east or west part of the country. .
I think it makes more sense to pick a time zone that is not offset from the majority of the world. Venezuela previously had sun set and sun rise times across their country roughly ranging from 6:00 – 7:00 all year round (given they are so close to the Equator the sunrise and sunset times do not vary much throughout the year). Caracas, being roughly in the middle of the country had sunset/sunrise times of 6:30. What was so bad about that? If they felt that was too late for the sunset or conversely too late of a sun rise then move it back one whole hour. Why go back 30 mins so the range is now 5:30 – 6:30 across the country with Caracas centered on 6:00. It just seems like added confusion for no clear benefit.
Chavez is a communist dicTATOR. cHINA DID THE SAME THING. Venezuelans are leaving their country in droves.
In 2008, more than at any earlier period since the adoption of standard time zones, it is no big deal for Venezuela to have an offset zone like India, Newfoundland, and many others. We may see more of this.
Does anyone know how or why doing this is beneficial for Chavez or for Venezuela?
“UTC−4:30 was formerly the official time zone in Venezuela from 1912 to 1965, when the government changed it in order to adopt meridian 60° (UTC-4), which passes through Punta de Playa, Delta Amacuro state.”
This was out in the Venezuelan boondocks!
Now it’s changed back to what was originally recommended by the International authorities.
MFD
IT doesn’t need to be benefical to Chavez. Australia is the same, some of their states have offset time zones, it just makes sense to have the country on one time zone because of it’s size. Not everything is political!
Wasn’t Venezuela all one time zone beofre, not 2? It was -4 UHT. So I think it makes more sense to go a whole hour. It is more confusing to be on the half hour. I think parts of India go on the quarter hour if I’m not mistaken. I thought China was all one time zone on the hour. When did that change? Or am I mistaken on that too? Gee, I’m feeling a bit out of touch, like a Paris Hilton. lol … Anybody?