Chiquita

Corporate Social Responsibility Leader Convicted Of Funding Death Squads

July 2, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Accountability, Chiquita, Colombia, Colombian Death Squads, Human Rights, Legal System

In a landmark legal case, Chiquita Banana was convicted by a federal court in Florida of funding a paramilitary death squad, the United Self Defense Force of Colombia (AUC in Spanish), in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The AUC murdered thousands of workers and used Chiquita ports and boats to move cocaine and weapons. This is the first time a US corporation has been held accountable for committing human rights abuses in another country. Clearing the FOG spoke with Professor Terry Karl, who was an expert in the case, about what happened, how Chiquita will now work to cover up its misdeeds and the impact this case will have.

Chiquita Case Exposes Failure Of Voluntary ‘Social Responsibility’

June 21, 2024 Manpreet Kaur Kalra and Anna Canning, In These Times. Educate! Accountability, Bananas, Chiquita, Corporate Responsibility, Human Rights

Last week, Chiquita Brands International — one of the world’s largest banana distributors — was found liable in a Florida court for financing a Colombian paramilitary group. The ruling marks a landmark moment for corporate accountability: It is the first time a U.S. corporation has been held liable for human rights violations abroad in connection to their business operations. As momentous as this victory is in its own right, it also illustrates the ineffectiveness of voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives — and the need for strong civil society institutions to protect human rights. Chiquita Brands International has vast banana plantations throughout Colombia.

Chiquita Ordered To Pay $38 Million For Funding Colombian Death Squads

June 13, 2024 Robert Inlakesh, MintPress News. Resist! Accountability, Chiquita, Colombia, Colombian Death Squads, Legal System

In a historic first, Chiquita Brands International has been ordered to pay the families of murdered Colombians after a court found the U.S.-based banana giant had privately financed death squads. After a lengthy legal battle spanning 17 years, a Florida court ordered Chiquita to pay $38 million to the families of death squad victims. This landmark case is the first in which an American corporation has been found liable for human rights abuses committed overseas, encouraging more victims to seek legal restitution. In 2007, Chiquita pled guilty to “one count of engaging in transactions with a specially-designated global terrorist” group, the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

US Jury Finds Chiquita Guilty Of Financing Paramilitary Death Squads

June 11, 2024 The Canary. Resist! Chiquita, Colombia, Food and Agriculture, Human Rights, Legal System, Paramilitary, State Violence

In a historic first, an American jury has held a major US corporation liable for complicity in serious human rights abuses abroad. Specifically, the case has held banana giant Chiquita Brands International accountable for financing a brutal paramilitary death squad in Colombia. Chiquita In Colombia Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita financed the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) to the tune of US $1.7m. The AUC was a coalition of right-wing death squads. The group of over 30,000 soldiers operated throughout two-thirds of the country, and manufactured war to prop up a series of illegal business activities. Primarily, the AUC ran what was then the largest drug trafficking cartel in the world. It also engaged in arms sales, human trafficking, and money laundering.

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