Chiquita sued over Colombian paramilitary payments

Source: Associated Press

Posted on Monday, 05.30.11
Chiquita sued over Colombian paramilitary payments

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- Each name is next to a number, in black type on a thick legal document. They are the mothers and fathers, spouses, sisters and brothers of thousands of Colombians who were killed or vanished during a bloody civil conflict between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups whose victims have largely been civilians.

The list has at least 4,000 names, each one targeting Chiquita Brands International in U.S. lawsuits, claiming the produce giant's payments and other assistance to the paramilitary groups amounted to supporting terrorists.

Cincinnati-based Chiquita in 2007 pleaded guilty to similar criminal charges brought by the Justice Department and paid a $25 million fine. But if the lawsuits succeed, plaintiffs' lawyers estimate the damages against Chiquita could reach into the billions. The cases filed around the country are being consolidated before a South Florida federal judge who must decide whether to dismiss them or let them proceed.

"A company that pays a terrorist organization that kills thousands of people should get the capital punishment of civil liability and be put out of business by punitive damages," said attorney Terry Collingsworth, who filed one of the first lawsuits on behalf of Colombians.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/30/2242250/chiquita-sued-over-colombian-paramilitary.html

supporting a terrorist organisation was sufficient to put them out of business. :)

What is the difference between what Ollie North and a bunch of other thugs (spelled F a w n H a l l)did out of the basement of the Reagan White House, and what Chiquita Brands International did on their own? The answer is that the civilians who By-golly Ollie had killed had tortured were from Nicaragua, and the money that was used to kill and torture them was paid for by you and I; whereas the civilians who Chiquita Brands International had killed and tortured were from Columbia, and the money that was used to kill and torture them came from a private U.S. corporation. So how come Ollie walked for the crime and Chiquita got nailed for it? Is there no justice on this perverse planet? And for that matter, how come Reagan also walked? Do you mean to say that Reagan never knew? Aw comeon. I happen to know that Nancy used to brew a fresh pot for 'em every day, and she used to also take it down to the basement herself.

and slept most of his time away, or if he actually did know. If he did know, he was a monster beyond reckoning.

The devastation he created in Central America was horrific. Our corporate media kept his image nice and pure while people died in agony, victims of torture and brutality beyond anything most Americans have ever imagined.

All the while he kept reminding us in his grandfatherly way that Central America was within driving distance from the U.S., and it was crawling with "commies." He, with the help of people like racist Jesse Helms made sure the ground was drenched with blood throughout Central America.

"Myths of Free Trade", 2004

If a wife hires a hit man to murder her husband, she is not charged for giving money to someone for illicit purposes. She is charged as an equal participant first degree murder.

with pre-meditated murder?

From DU:

Did you know GHWB's Zapata Oil owned United Fruit when Arbenz was deposed?

Apparently we should have suspected that kind of manipulation a long, long time ago.

Miss posts from 1932. He was a prodigeous reader.

Thanks for the link, it should reactivate interest in subject which has continually been swept under the carpet.

Things don't change much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiquita_Brands_International

Carl Lindner, who was CEO of Chiquita until 2001 and was running things when the payments started, is a major political donor, mostly to the GOP. In 2004, he gave over $1 million to leading Republican soft money groups. Various investigations have suggested that Lindner probably knew about the payments and that his son, who was president of Chiquita at the same time, definitely knew. In 2007, there were reports that Chiquita was seeking to extradite Chiquita executives and some speculation that Lindner might be among those named, but nothing ever came of it. (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0322/p99s01-duts.html)

Lindner has never been shy about using his power to protect himself. In 1998, the Cincinnati Inquirer ran a multi-part investigative series on Chiquita's involvements in Columbia -- but when it turned out that the lead reporter had hacked into Chiquita's voicemail system, Chiquita used a threat of criminal charges to basically crush the Inquirer and suppress the story. (See http://citybeat.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/does-colombia-want-lindner/)

The 2007 plea bargain that let Chiquita off with a relative slap on the wrist was arranged by US Attorney Jeffrey Taylor. Taylor, who also played a role in the US Attorney scandal, had until a few months earlier been counselor to John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales and was appointed to the attorney position without confirmation under the Patriot Act. He was suspected of deliberately botching other important cases around the same time. (See http://blog.buzzflash.com/alerts/215)

The individual suits that are now ongoing were filed almost immediately after the federal suit was resolved. They're important -- but I'd like to see some of the older history of the case raked up as well. Lindner is older than the hills now, but his American Financial Group is still pumping money into Karl Rove's American Crossroads (http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rachel-maddow-billionaires-pump-money-karl). That sort of thing buys a lot of influence.