Banana Terrorism: Chiquita fined $25m for paying terrorists

 Hi Ryan,

Interesting story. 

"But they weren't really supporting them, rather paying them off so
they didn't kill their workers."

I think this is Chiquita's spin on the story.  They are attempting to minimize 
the damage. The $25 million fine is no more than a corporate speeding ticket
for the multi-billion dollar banana company. 

The firm said its only motive was the safety of its Colombian workers. (BBC)

I think the lawyers and PR executives will be celebrating their victory.

Chiquita Brands International, the banana giant based in Cincinnati,
Ohio, is being sued for its alleged role in the murders of nearly two
dozen Colombian workers killed by paramilitary groups between 1997 and
2004... 

Fifty-eight Colombian labour activists were killed in 2006 alone,
according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, while the Escuela
Nacional Sindical, a Colombian labour rights group, puts the number of
killings for that year at 72...

According to the John F. Henning Centre for International Labour
Relations at the University of California, Berkeley: "Links between the
right-wing paramilitary groups that carry out the majority of these
killings and both U.S.-based corporations operating in Colombia and
U.S. military assistance to the country have become increasingly
evident." 

"Of greatest concern are the alarming links between the official
Colombian military and the ultra-right-wing organisations of the United
Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, who are responsible for 90 percent of
trade union assassinations in Colombia," researchers at the Centre
found. 

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38473