Translations:Coffee production in Venezuela/6/en
History
José Gumilla, a Jesuit priest, is credited with introducing coffee into Venezuela, in 1732. In Venezuela, known as the land of plantations dependent on slave labour, cocoa became the major crop in the 1770s, overshadowing tobacco. From 1793, there were many large coffee plantations in the country. It was only in the 1800s when coffee became the major plantation crop. From 1811 to 1823, cacao production began to drop but coffee production surged. In the 1830s, Venezuela was the third largest coffee exporter in the world. The war of independence in the country also resulted in decline of growth of cacao due to neglect and destruction. However, growth of coffee took a rising trend as its prices in the North Atlantic nations was booming and Venezuela had free trade agreement with these nations. During the rule of Antonio Guzmán Blanco as governor of a few states (from 1871) in the late 1880s when he was known by the epithet “Illustrious American”, Venezuela witnessed all round development (development of Caracas is largely attributed to him) and coffee production increased rapidly as there was an additional support in the form of loans from foreign countries.