The American banana company Chiquita has again been ordered to pay millions in damages for its ties to a paramilitary group in Colombia. However, the company claims that these are protective payments.
A Florida jury ruled Monday that the company must pay $38.3 million in damages to the families of eight Colombian men killed by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Chiquita knowingly supported the AUC financially, which entailed a foreseeable risk of harm. The company could not prove that the financial contributions were protection money intended to avert an imminent threat to the company or its employees. There was initially no statement from Chiquita about the verdict.
Not the first fine
“The verdict does not bring the murdered husbands and sons back to life, but sets the record straight and puts the responsibility for the financing of terrorism where it belongs: with Chiquita,” said the lawyer for the families of the murdered people.
Chiquita was fined $25 million in 2007 for similar allegations. The company pleaded guilty at the time to paying protection money for the safety of its employees between 2001 and 2004.
AUC was officially disbanded in 2006
The paramilitary AUC has been designated a terrorist organization by the US government and the EU. The militia was considered one of the country’s most ruthless groups until it was officially disbanded in 2006.
Source: Krone
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