LatinNews Daily - 24 June 2024

Colombia: On 10 June a US district court in the southern district of Florida ordered multinational banana company Chiquita Brands International to pay US$38m to the families of eight Colombian men murdered by a paramilitary death squad between 1997 and 2004, marking a landmark verdict. The ruling comes after 17 years of legal efforts, marking the first time a major US corporation has been held liable for funding human rights abuses abroad. According to court documents, Chiquita was shown to have “provided substantial assistance…in the form of cash payments” to the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group between 1997-2004. In 2007, Chiquita pleaded guilty to making secret payments of some US$1.7m to the AUC in exchange for protection for its workers, and paid a US$25m fine. However, this is the first time it has been ordered to pay compensation to its victims. In a statement, Marco Simons of EarthRights International, one of the law firms representing the families of victims killed by the paramilitaries, stated that the verdict “sends a powerful message to corporations everywhere: profiting from human rights abuses will not go unpunished”. Chiquita reportedly plans to appeal the ruling, maintaining that there is no legal basis for the claims. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro responded via social media, questioning why Colombia’s justice system had been unable to determine that Chiquita financed paramilitaries when a US court had been able to.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 836 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial