Seems as though Hugo Chavez has "saved" the coffee business in Venezuela, according to a story in the September 2 editions of the Financial Times:
It saddens Don Luis Paparoni, who is almost 90, to summon up memories of the heyday of Venezuela’s coffee production
“You see these hills?” he asks, gesturing to the lush green valley around Santa Cruz de Mora, a picturesque town at the lower reaches of the Venezuelan Andes. “They used to be carpeted with coffee plants. Now you’ll scarcely find any.”
Venezuela was one of the world’s top coffee exporters in the early 20th century. But for the first time last month the country was forced by looming shortages to import coffee from Brazil, even though locals say it is no match for the local quality Arabica beans.
Mr. Chavez has gotten heavily involved in recent months:
Shortages prompted Mr Chávez last month to expropriate the country’s two largest coffee roasters, Fama de América and Café Madrid, which account for almost 80 per cent of production. He blamed the scarcity on hoarding, speculation and smuggling.
“We’ve had enough of this! We must do the same with all companies that behave this way,” thundered the socialist leader. “We are going to continue nationalising monopolies to turn them into productive businesses in the hands of the workers, the people, the revolution.”
But analysts say many of the problems confronting coffee production – and the private sector in general – are caused by precisely this kind of government intervention. Such expropriations, as well as an aggressive land reform campaign, have generated a climate of uncertainty that has damped investment.
Price controls have made matters worse. Increasing amounts of coffee – and many other goods – are smuggled abroad to be sold at international prices. “Of course there’s contraband. What does Chávez expect when you can sell coffee in Colombia for double or triple the price?” said one coffee producer, who requested anonymity.
I guess we add "coffee in Venezuela" on a list that includes "sugar in Cuba" or "land reform in Zimbabwe" among other notorious examples of the fruit of "reform" in revolutionary republics.
