Venezuela's chocolate provides an economic lifeline

*From Reuters:* *Venezuelan chocolatiers are making gourmet chocolate bars for sale in their home country, but have goals of taking their products abroad to international markets where their chocolate bars can sell for more than 10 times as much. “The entrepreneurs are making the chocolates with the local aromatic and sweet cocoa that has been famous for centuries,” said Reuters correspondent Corina Pons.*

My take: More power to these incredibly dedicated and hard-working chocolatiers. It must be frustrating that what they sell for $1 in Venezuela they could get $10 internationally — if only they could get their product out there! The Venezuelan government and its bureaucracy are a corrupt mess and have been for some time. Let’s hope these artisans can hold out.