Colombia charges 13 former Chiquita executives over hundreds of murders

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia charges 13 former Chiquita executives over hundreds of murders
by Adriaan Alsema September 1, 2018

Colombia’s prosecution said Friday it would charge more than a dozen former executives of the popular Chiquita bananas on charges they used death squads to increase profits.

In a press statement, the prosecution that said 13 former Chiquita executives, including three Americans, one Costa Rican and one Honduran for mass killings by paramilitary groups that took place between 1997 and 2004, will be expected in court to respond to terrorism support charges.

The criminal charges against Chiquita are the first after more than a century of often brutal labor practices, initially under the name of the United Fruits Company.

How much blood is there on a banana?
The charges brought are only about human rights violations between 1990 and 2004 when Chiquita allegedly financed paramilitary groups through subsidiaries and death squads’ front companies in a phenomenon called “para-economics.”

More:
https://colombiareports.com/terror-for-profit-colombia-charges-14-former-chiquita-executives/

LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142149125

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[SamKnause]

2. K&R

[rownesheck]

3. No wonder

we've switched to del Monte bananas in my store.

[Laffy Kat]

4. And they have such a monopoly in most grocery stores around here.

I don't buy them.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Colombia charges 13 ex-Chiquita executives for financing death squads

SEPT. 2, 2018 / 9:16 PM
Colombia charges 13 ex-Chiquita executives for financing death squads
By Ray Downs

Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Colombia's Attorney General's Office on Friday charged 13 former Chiquita executives for financing paramilitary death squads that are accused of killing more than 4,000 people.

Between 1997 and 2004, the executives of the Florida-based corporation paid $1.7 million to the United Self-Defenders of Colombia, or AUC in its Spanish initials, prosecutors said. The company already admitted to making the payments in 2007 in U.S. court when it settled with the Justice Department for funding terrorism and paid a $25 million fine.

Chiquita has said that it was "forced" to pay off the AUC.

"To be clear, there is no allegation that Chiquita itself committed any of the crimes perpetrated by the Colombian terrorist groups," the company said in a statement at the time. "The only allegation is that Chiquita should be held responsible for these crimes by virtue of the money that it was forced to pay."

More:
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/09/02/3501535934661/?sl=2