Money for AUC
Supported paramilitaries – Chiquita must pay compensation
11.06.2024, 08:02
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Protection money or voluntary support of a terrorist group? The US banana company Chiquita has been paying large sums to the Colombian paramilitary AUC for years. The families of killed Colombians are suing the company for damages and winning.
The US banana company Chiquita has once again been ordered to pay millions in damages because of its links to a paramilitary group in Colombia. A jury in the US state of Florida ruled that the company must pay $38.3 million to the families of eight Colombian men killed by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Chiquita knowingly provided financial support to the AUC, which posed a foreseeable risk of harm, it was said. The company was unable to prove that the financial contributions were protection money intended to avert an immediate threat to the company or its employees. Chiquita has not yet commented on the ruling.
“The verdict does not bring the killed husbands and sons back to life, but it sets things right and puts the responsibility for financing terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita’s door,” said the lawyer for the families of those killed.
Chiquita was already fined $25 million in 2007 for similar allegations. The company pleaded guilty to paying protection money for the safety of its employees between 2001 and 2004. The paramilitary AUC was classified as a terrorist organization by the US government and the EU. The militia was considered one of the most brutal groups in the country until it was officially disbanded in 2006.