Chiquita paid a death squad for eight years — a jury made it answer

From 1997 to 2004, Chiquita Brands International made over one hundred payments totalling $1.7 million to the United Self-Defenses of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States. The company later admitted the payments in a 2007 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, paying a $25 million fine, but argued it had been coerced.

On June 10, 2024, after a 17-year legal battle, an eight-member jury in West Palm Beach, Florida, found Chiquita liable for financing the AUC under the Alien Tort Statute. The jury awarded $38.3 million to the families of 16 victims murdered by the group. Testimony revealed that internal company documents showed Chiquita believed it could not get the same level of military protection for its banana operations without the payments, and that a key meeting with AUC leader Carlos Castaño had 'virtually no bearing' on the decision to continue paying.

The jury rejected Chiquita's duress defence, finding that the company had never been threatened by the AUC and had voluntarily entered into 'an unholy alliance.' The decision was upheld on appeal in October 2024, with the court refusing to reduce the award. The case exposed a 17-year gap between the company's public admission in 2007 and the victims' day in court.

In Colombia, seven Chiquita executives were separately sentenced to 11 years in prison for their role in the payments. Thousands of additional claims remain pending.