| Bitter sweet success for Venezuelan chocolate - 19 May 2008 Al Jazeera's Lucrecia Franco reports from Venezuela, on how the chocolate industry is becoming a new battleground. As left-wing nationalism spreads across Latin America, foreign companies there are having to rethink their business strategies. Willie Harcourt-Cooze, a British entrepreneur who has been dubbed Willy Wonka after the fictional character, is using Venezuelan cacao beans to make a highly sought-after chocolate. Harcourt-Cooze boasted that his South American plantation produces "the finest, rarest and most expensive cacao in the world". However, his success has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Hugo Chavez, the country's president. Chavez has ordered an investigation into his export business. Tags: lucrecia franco al jazeera english venezuela chocolate willie harcourt cooze cacao |