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Sunday, June 16, 2024

Chiquita Banana Company Ordered to Pay Colombian Victim's Families Millions for Funding AUC Narco Terrorists

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat



A court in the United States has found multinational fruit company Chiquita Brands International liable for financing a Colombian paramilitary group. The group, the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), was designated by the US as a terrorist organisation at the time.

Following a civil case brought by 8 Colombian families whose relatives were killed by the AUC, Chiquita has been ordered to pay $38.3 in damages to the families. Chiquita said in a statement that it intended to appeal against the jury's verdict, arguing that there was "no legal basis for the claims."

In addition to the protection money paid, Chiquita has also been accused of smuggling weapons (3,000 AK-47s) to the AUC and in assisting the AUC in smuggling drugs to Europe.


The jury in the case, which was heard in a federal court in South Florida, found Chiquita responsible for the wrongful deaths of 8 men killed by the AUC.

The AUC engaged in widespread human rights abuses in Colombia, including murdering people it suspected of links with left-wing rebels. The victims ranged from trade unionists to banana workers.



The case was brought by the families after Chiquita pleaded guilty in 2007 to making payments to the AUC. During the 2007 trial, it was revealed that Chiquita had made payments amounting to more than $1.7 million to the AUC in the 6 years from 1997 to 2004. The company paid $25 million to settle the federal criminal charges.

The banana giant said that it began making the payments after the leader of the AUC at the time, Carlos Castaño, implied that staff and property belonging to Chiquita's subsidiary in Colombia could be harmed if the money was not forthcoming.

Lawyers for Chiquita argued that the company had no choice but to pay the AUC to protect its Colombian employees from violence. But the plaintiffs argued that the company formed "an unholy alliance with the AUC" at a time when Chiquita was expanding its presence in regions controlled by the AUC.


The regular payments continued even after the AUC was designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization in 2001, thereby violating US sanctions. The federal admission prompted surviving relatives of people killed by the AUC to file civil cases against Chiquita. Since then, more than 5,000 wrongful death claims have been filed.


History of the AUC

While the AUC claimed to have been created to defend landowners from attacks and extortion attempts by left-wing rebels, the paramilitary group more often acted as a death squad for drug traffickers. It's foundations as force was against Pablo Escobar as part of Los Pepes.

At its height, the AUC had an estimated 30,000 members who engaged in intimidation, drug trafficking, extortion, forced displacement and killings. It also launched brutal attacks on villagers they suspected of supporting left-wing rebels.

According to the Colombian National Police, in the first ten months of 2000 the AUC conducted 804 assassinations, 203 kidnappings, and 75 massacres with 507 victims. The AUC claims the victims were mostly guerrillas or sympathizers.



The Justice Department said in 2007 that Carlos Castaño Gil, who headed the AUC from 1997 until his death in 2004, met with the general manager of the Chiquita subsidiary Banadex and told him that payments would need to be made once the AUC forced another violent group, the left-wing FARC, out of territory where Banadax was growing bananas.

The group demobilized in 2006 after reaching a peace deal with the government, but some of its members went on to form new splinter groups which continue to be active, using narco trafficking as their main source of funding.

Salvatore Mancuso, a key AUC commander helped supply the 'Ndrangheta with cocaine.

Several AUC members were and became notable drug kingpins even after the demobilization including the Castaño brothers,  Salvatore Mancuso and former Escobar trafficker Diego "Don Berna" Murillo.

United Fruit Company

The United Fruit Company was the foundation of the Chiquita Brands International company, founded in 1899. In 1928, workers went on strike in protest against poor pay and working conditions in the company plantations Ciénaga, Colombia. The company lobbied U.S. government forces to assist with repressing the outbreak; however, the Colombian government opted to quell the strike on its own, sending military forces into the town of Ciénaga, where the strikers had gathered on December 6. The repression resulted in the deaths of scores of plantation workers and their families, known as the Banana Massacre.

In 1954, the United Fruit Company had lobbied US Presidents Truman and later Eisenhower that the leader of Guatemala was leaning towards communism. The CIA supported a military overthrowing of Guatamela by their military, providing training, weapons and a base in Honduras to launch their attack from. CIA Director Allen Dulles was a board member of the UFCO, Dulles' brother was the US Secretary of State at the time.

After the overthrow of President Árbenz, a military dictatorship was established under Carlos Castillo Armas. Soon after coming to power, the new government launched a concerted campaign against trade unionists, in which some of the most severe violence was directed at workers on the plantations of the United Fruit Company.

Despite UFCO's government connections and conflicts of interest, the overthrow of Árbenz failed to benefit the company. The Eisenhower administration proceeded with antitrust action against the company, which forced it to divest in 1958. In 1972, the company sold off the last of its Guatemalan holdings after over a decade of decline. In 1968, after Eli Black bought over 700,000 shares of the company, it was rebranded to United Brands Company after merging with his fruit company. On February 3, 1975, Black committed suicide by jumping out a window from the 44th floor of the Pan Am Building in New York City. Later that year, the SEC exposed a scheme by United Brands (dubbed Bananagate) to bribe Honduran President Oswaldo López Arellano with $1.25 million, plus the promise of another $1.25 million upon the reduction of certain export taxes.

Trading in United Brands stock was halted, and López was ousted in a military coup. In the 1980s, the UFCO rebranded itself Chiquita Brands International.


Chiquita said in a statement released after the verdict that the situation in Colombia was "tragic for so many, including those directly affected by the violence there, and our thoughts remain with them and their families."

"However, that does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for these claims," it added. The company said it remained confident that its legal position would ultimately prevail.

Agnieszka Fryszman, one of the leading lawyers for the plaintiffs, meanwhile praised the families she represented, saying that they had "risked their lives to come forward to hold Chiquita to account, putting their faith in the United States justice system." She added that "the verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed, but it sets the record straight and places accountability for funding terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita's doorstep."

Another lawyer for the Colombian families, Leslie Kroeger, said that “after a long 17 years against a well-funded defence, justice was finally served”.

A second case against Chiquita brought by another group of plaintiffs is due to start on July 15, 2024.

41 comments:

  1. It was a CIA Special Activities Division operation. Banana Republic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bananana Republics...

    ReplyDelete
  3. The shipping of bananas and cocaine smuggling goes hand in hand

    ReplyDelete
  4. So these companies pay huge fines and some compensation but do any of the directors actually go to prison?
    Stupid question probably.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fun fact: WWF paid paramilitary
      groups to protect the Rain Forrest by torturing, raping and killing the indigenous groups living in the Rain Forrest for hundreds of years. And this was around 2010 if I remember correctly.

      Delete
  5. Let’s not talk about what’s going on right now in Michoacán with the Limones! 🩸

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 3:02 - These are two completely different things. In this particular case, you have a multinational fruit company willingly helping to fund a Colombian paramilitary group, and helping them smuggle drugs and guns. In Michoacán, you have cartel members threatening and extorting farmers and lime pickers.

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    2. 3:02 - This is ten times worse than what’s happening in Michoacán. This billion dollar multinational fruit company was funding a Colombian narco paramilitary group. Imagine what type of weaponry this criminal group could buy with that money. Not only that, but they also helped the criminal group smuggle drugs and guns.

      Delete
    3. @3:02 Hello Walter White. I’m pretty sure that Borderlandbeat has already written an article in the past about what’s happening in Michoacán. You’ll have to look for it, but I do want to say that what’s happening in Michoacán is nowhere near as bad as this. This is much worse. Love your show by the way.

      Delete
    4. @3:53 I wonder if Chiquita banana was assigned a group to watch and take care of all the bananas, no fuerzas especiales bananas? Does fuerza especial limones sound familiar? Jardinero? Any way

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    5. Si quiren su platano, ya saben. Quien va querer?

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    6. Aqui tengo un par de limones.

      Delete
    7. DONT BE SO FLAMER

      Delete
  6. Interesting subject.
    Remember the scene in Godfather 2 when the fruit company and telephone company and Italian Mafia were carving up Cuba.
    They gave El presidente, their puppet, a solid gold telephone to help keep him pacified.

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  7. La chiquita prestan.

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  8. socalj..felicitaciones buen articulo.....y es por eso que en mexico hay muchisimos colombianos bien entrenados trabajando pa los grupos criminales...MIRA DIJE BIEN ENTRENADOS.......Pobre mi mexico....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. English please
      This an American website
      Have some respect
      Learn to translate
      We shouldn’t have to read Spanish just to read your comment!
      This is America!
      We speak and read and write ENGLISH!
      Proudly!

      Delete
    2. Can you guys please not write Mexican I can’t read that shit dang it

      Delete
    3. The "Socalj felicidades buen articulo" part got you pilgrims stumped?
      Betcha you'll never guess what "grupos criminales" means..
      What are you guys, goddam potato. farmers?
      😂

      Delete
    4. amazon fresh got bananas for the low

      Delete
    5. 8:53 hillbilly Joe
      Use goggle translator.
      This is a universal language site.

      Delete
    6. Bananas $25 pesos kilo in Guerrero 🍌

      Delete
  9. Damn it!! First Avocado and now Banana prices are going to the moon! I got heart failure fellas but the Fruit prices are what's gonna kill me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's no lie, banana prices are up. 🍌

      Delete
    2. You know what else is up?

      Delete
    3. 401
      "The price of meat has just gone up, and your ol' lady has just gone down"
      .. Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
      🦎

      Delete
    4. Frank Zappa and who gives a shit

      Delete
    5. 847
      Your old lady 😀

      Delete
  10. Toma chango tu banana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  11. Why is the United States getting involved with what Chiquita did to people in Columbia? They stick their nose in any country’s business that will let them. One of many reasons why it’s the most hated country in the world, even though it’s where most people want to go and live.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uh, did you read the article and how much the US has hlped them overthrow countries before? Least they can do

      Delete
    2. Mijo
      You got it wrong...
      Russia is the most hated
      It's people have no freedom.
      They go out and protest the Ukraine war, they get 5 years in prison.

      Delete
    3. I'm not mijo ok take a step back and relax

      Delete
    4. 11:54
      Mijo stop being rebellious.
      English classes for you summer 🌞 school.

      Delete
    5. Mijo and the culo

      Delete
  12. I LOVE this picture of the banana with the palm trees I need a T- SHIRT like that for sure

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wife beater, or with sleeves? 🤔

      Delete
    2. Sleeves and chico che sunglasses

      Delete

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