Chiquita has admitted in court paying terrorist organizations in Colombia to protect one of their most profitable banana-growing operations. Between 1997-2004 Chiquita paid the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) $1.7 million for protection.
Representatives of Chiquita told the court that the company was forced to make the payments and was acting only to ensure the safety of its workers. Sure, yet between 2001 (when the U.S. Government designated AUC as a terrorist organization) and 2004 (when Chiquita sold the plantation for $43.5 million), Chiquita paid $825,000 in illegal protection payments, whilst earning $49.4 million in profits from the operation, making it the company's most profitable unit.
Chiquita also paid the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as control of the company's banana-growing area shifted. Both groups have also been designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S..
Chiquita looks to get away from the ordeal with a fine of $25 million in a plea deal with prosecutors.
No word on the possibility of Chiquita working with terrorist organizations to build Banana Bombs, as of yet...
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070319/ap_on_bi_ge/terrorism_bananas
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