Chiquita Banana funds Right Wing Paramilitary group in Colombia

[pepperbear]

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1616991,00.html


Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe headed to Washington this week, hoping to contain the fallout from an ever-widening scandal linking some of his closest allies to rightwing paramilitaries — a scandal that is threatening a key free-trade agreeement and future military aid from the U.S.

*snip*

But Washington has made its own deal with at least one backer of the Colombian paramilitaries: Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in March, banana giant Chiquita Brands International acknowledged it had paid $1.7 million to Colombia's paramilitaries groups. The company said it had made the payments to protect its employees, but about half of the money was paid after the paramilitary federation in question, the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, had been placed on Washington's list of foreign terrorist organizations in September of 2001.

According to court documents filed in the case, Chiquita executives were aware of the inclusion of the AUC on the the U.S. list of foreign terror organizations, and debated whether they should continue with the payments. The documents show that the company consulted with a lawyer who, in a February 2003, email stated unequivocally: "Bottom line: CANNOT MAKE THE PAYMENT."

*snip*

[jwirr]

1. Another American corporation play the Ugly American to win hearts

and minds.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Reminds me of "War Is A Racket" by Gen. Smedley D. Butler in which he

spilled the beans about this country using its military to protect the interests of United Fruit in Central and South America at the turn of the 20th century.

Colombia will start with its own bully boys to terrorize the workers for Chiquita and will likely get our tax dollars in the form of aid to finance this "police force" for this one particular corporation, if not our military inevitably.

[rasputin1952]

3. You beat me too it! As soon as I read the SL I thoought of

the "Banana Wars".

[conspirator]

4. I am with the paramilitary groups here

These groups include people who were drawn out of the land and into poverty by the corporations. It's only fair that they claim a truce "tax" from chiquita.