Share this [11]
The food company Chiquita Brands International, Inc. [12] has pleaded guilty to funding a Colombian paramilitary group designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. According to U.S. Department of Justice [13] prosecutors, the company's Colombian subsidiary, Banadex, paid approximately $1.7 million to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 1997 and 2004. In its 2004 corporate social responsibility [14] report, Chiquita stated that it had been "forced" [15] to make the payments and had disclosed them to the Justice Department in early 2003. However, the Miami Herald reports [16] that senior managers authorised payments "even after outside attorneys advised the company to halt the flow of money." In June 2004, Chiquita sold Banadex. In a deal struck with prosecutors, but not yet accepted by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, Chiquita has agreed to pay a $25 million fine. The names of the executives who approved the payments would not be revealed.
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/7/bob-burton
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/environment/agriculture
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/corporations/corporate-social-responsibility
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations/crisis-management
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations/issue-management
[6] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/war-peace/terrorism
[7] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/ethics
[8] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/human-rights
[9] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/international
[10] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/us-government
[11] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2007%2F03%2F5880%2Fchiquita-pleads-guilty-funding-colombian-terrorists&linkname=Chiquita%20Pleads%20Guilty%20to%20Funding%20Colombian%20Terrorists
[12] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Chiquita_Brands_International
[13] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._Department_of_Justice
[14] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/corporate_social_responsibility
[15] http://www.chiquita.com/corpres/AR%20reports/CR%20Pages%20from%202004annual.pdf
[16] http://www.miamiherald.com/103/story/42036.html
[17] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031900641_pf.html