Chiquita Can't Shuck Colombia Terror Claims

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Courthouse News Service

Friday, July 29, 2011Last Update: 1:57 PM PT
Chiquita Can't Shuck Colombia Terror Claims
By IULIA FILIP

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CN) - Relatives of banana-plantation workers, political and social activists, and other civilians killed by Colombian paramilitary forces may sue Chiquita over claims of torture, extrajudicial killings, war crimes and crimes against humanity, a federal judge ruled.

In a multidistrict litigation, the plaintiffs accused Chiquita Brands International and Chiquita Fresh North America of complicity in hundreds of deaths because of its direct and indirect payments to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by its Spanish abbreviation AUC). Chiquita was also allegedly involved with arms shipments into Colombia.

The AUC was created in the 1990s to fight left-wing guerillas led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which have been engaged in a decades-long conflict with the Colombian government. The AUC, claiming to have 11,000 members by 2001, terrorized civilians throughout Colombia, engaging in executions, rape, torture and large-scale attacks on civilians whom the AUC considered guerrilla supporters or sympathizers. The AUC also targeted "socially undesirable" groups, such as indigenous persons, people with psychological problems, drug addicts and prostitutes.

Although the Colombian government criminalized membership in and support of paramilitary groups in 1991, it allowed for the creation of private security groups known as "convivir" units, under AUC leadership. The units claimed to provide security from left-wing attacks in high-risk areas such as the Uraba region, where Chiquita operated its banana plantations.

Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/29/38588.htm

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. Chiquita Corporation has so much blood on its hands. nt

[midnight]

2. This is horrible.. I hope they sue... I'm not buying bananas from this company...

[lebkuchen]

3. It's great that they label their bananas with those blue stickers

making them easy to avoid in the supermarket.

[Sherman A1]

4. Hmmm.....

Deja Vu all over again?

As said above Chiquita does indeed have blood on their hands.

[Fuddnik]

5. I've heard they have a good lawyer.

The guy's supposed to be some kind of big shot prosecutor or something now. His name is Bolder or Colder, or something like that.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Getting their product for next to nothing gives them so much profit they can afford the "best." n/t

[dipsydoodle]

6. United Fruit revisited

:(

K & R

[Ohio Joe]

8. Terrorist groups often have this problem

They should stop terrorizing people, it might help their public image.

[Octafish]

9. Before his current gig, Mr. Holder's earned big retainers helping Chiquita out...

Background from 2008:

Fronting for Paramilitaries: Holder, Chiquita and Colombia

EXCERPT...

Most striking, at least for the time being, is the soon to be named position of the top law enforcement official of the country. It looks like the first African-American President will appoint the first African-American attorney general in the coming days, something that on the surface looks like an advance, but should actually sound alarm bells for anybody seeking true change in the way things are done in Washington, especially when it comes to bringing corporate criminals to justice.

SNIP...

What is not being discussed too much, and was not even mentioned in today's New York Times report, is Holder's key role in defending Chiquita Brands International in a notorious case relating to the company's funneling money and weapons to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC, the right-wing paramilitary organization on the U.S. State Department's own list of terrorist organizations.

In 2003, an Organization of American States report showed that Chiquita's subsidiary in Colombia, Banadex, had helped divert weapons and ammunition, including thousands of AK-47s, from Nicaraguan government stocks to the AUC. The AUC - very often in collaboration with units of the U.S.-trained Armed Forces - is responsible for hundreds of massacres of primarily peasants throughout the Colombian countryside, including in the banana-growing region of Urabá, where it is believed that at least 4,000 people were killed. Their systematic use of violence resulted in the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of poor Colombians, a disproportionate amount of those people being black or indigenous.

In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement with the Justice Department for Chiquita that involved the fruit company's payment of "protection money" to the AUC, in direct violation of U.S. laws prohibiting this kind of transaction. In the agreement brokered by Holder, Chiquita officials pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a fine of $25 million, to be paid over a 5-year period. However, not one Chiquita official involved in the illegal transactions was forced to serve time for a crime that others have paid dearly for, mainly because they did not have the kind of legal backing that Holder's team provided. Holder continues to represent Chiquita in the civil action, which grew out of this criminal case.

CONTINUED...