Modern times

Maracaibo has become a large metropolitan city, comprising two municipalities: to the north the municipality of Maracaibo and to the south the San Francisco municipality (established in 1995). In recent years, due to political/economic and cultural reasons, many have moved to Maracaibo from rural areas and other cities (including Caracas).

In the political arena, the citizens of Maracaibo (and most other cities and municipalities in Zulia state) have in recent years voted for a competitive political system in where the governor is from a certain political party and the mayor or mayors are from the opposite political party. This system has brought many good things to the city and the state; for example, if the governor builds a bridge, one of the mayors will build two, if a mayor cleans a public park, the governor retaliates by cleaning and remodelling another one. Currently the governor is Manuel Rosales from the Un Nuevo Tiempo party, and the mayor of Maracaibo, Giancarlo Di Martino, is from the Movimiento Quinta Republic party. Both parties are their opposite in Venezuelan politics; in the past the governor of the state was Francisco Arias Cárdenas from the Causa Radical and the mayor of Maracaibo was Rosales, the current governor.

Maracaibo also boasts one of the best universities in the country, the state university. La Universidad del Zulia (LUZ) is well renowned for its excellent law and medical schools. Other major universities and schools include Universidad Rafael Belloso Chacin (URBE), with its excellent engineering school, and Universidad Rafael Urdaneta, with one of the country's leading psychology schools.

Culture in Maracaibo is very indigenous and autochthonous, is recognized in every state and city in Venezuela, and is very influential with its gaitas, desserts, style, living, and customs. Most major houses of advertising in Venezuela acknowledge how opposite the culture of Maracaibo is from that of Caracas. Studies of both prove, for example, that Caracas' leading soft drink brand is Coke, while in Maracaibo it is Pepsi. This has made many brands create special localised advertising of their products (including several Pepsi commercials spoken by local celebrities).

The Maracuchos (and most of the inhabitants of Zulia state) are known to be the only users, in Venezuela, of the Castilian dialect, using words such as "vos" when referring to the second person singular, as is done in Argentina, Uruguay, and Nicaragua, among other places; in the rest of the country the word "tu" or "usted" is used. This has led Maracuchos to be recognized almost anywhere by their rough accent.

Maracuchos are extremely proud of their city, their culture, and all of Zulia. They usually claim that Venezuela wouldn't be the country it actually is without Zulia. Rivalry with inhabitants of other regions is common, specially with Gochos (people of the Mérida state) and Caraqueños (people of the city of Caracas).

Unfortunately, the city of Maracaibo has no facilities to treat domestic sewage. All sewage is pumped into Lake Maracaibo, which along with the removal of the land bridge to the sea, has been responsible for transforming the lake from crystal clear waters teeming with fish to a brackish green mess.