El Tiempo, Colombia

Evidence Shows Chiquita Banana Was Not Alone in Making Terrorist Pay-Offs

"Chiquita Brands, Dole, Banacol, Uniban, Proban and Del Monte all entered into this agreement. They paid us one cent for every box of bananas that left the country."

— Salvatore Mancuso, former leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary umbrella group

By Natalia Springer

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

May 13, 2007

Colombia - El Tiempo - Original Article (Spanish)

On March 18, I wrote a column entitled "Four Million Bullets " in which I discussed the case of Chiquita Brands Inc. Alleging that the content of my column affected its good name, Banacol, the company that purchased Chiquita Brands back in 2004, sent me a respectful letter in which it demanded a rectification, given that at that time, Banaldex - as Banacol was called then - was a subsidiary of Chiquita - which is true - and wanting, "to make the information more precise, and enlighten readers and restore the good name of Banacol." I responded to them promising to make corrections if they turned out to be justified.

[Editor's Note: Chiquita Brands International pleaded guilty on March 19 in U.S. federal court to one count of doing business with a terrorist organization. The plea is part of a deal with prosecutors that calls for a $25-million fine and doesn't identify several senior executives who approved the illegal protection payments ].

My investigation was based on legal documents and the statements by two anonymous witnesses who are former employees of the industry, which permitted me to conclude with certainty that the entire banana sector was involved with guerrillas, self-defense groups and organized crime.

For that reason, I asked the company for a declaration certifying that it had never maintained relations with armed groups on the margins of the law. In response they sent me a statement signed by Uniban, Banacol and Proban, in which they point out that "our policy toward illegal organizations such as guerrillas, self-defense groups and common criminal organizations has been one of not succumbing to their demands … we acted within legal norms ..."

[Editor's Note: The issue of right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerillas is an explosive one in Colombia. The paramilitaries were originally formed by rich landowners to counter the left-wing guerillas that have taken over almost half of the country and fund themselves by drug-trafficking. As the author points out, it appears that Western multinationals like Chiquita payed-off and schemed with both sides in the decades-long conflict in Colombia, thereby having a hand in many civilian deaths].

On May 7, 2007, I met with Salvatore Mancuso [former leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary umbrella group] at maximum-security prison in Itagüi. Questioned about this issue, Mancuso answered: "All the banana companies paid us. All of them."

According to his story, "toward the end of 1997, the father of Raúl Hasbún, a banana mogul, died in a airplane accident. This resulted in a meeting of all the banana companies, in which Hasbún was named the banana company representative for dealing with self-defense groups [right-wing paramilitaries]. Following this meeting, Raúl became an intermediary, and later the commander of the Bloque Bananero [the Banana Bloc]."

"Chiquita Brands Inc, Dole, Banacol, Uniban, Proban and Del Monte all entered into this agreement. They paid us one cent for every box of bananas that left the country. The rest of the companies of the sector made a contribution every semester. The Dole Company was in charge of collecting the money and finalizing the operation. The others had full knowledge [of the payments] which were registered as contributions to the Convivir Papagayos [neighborhood watch groups]. … The sum of these contributions was distributed proportionally among Casa Castaño and Bloque Bananero, and the funds were used for social investments and to pay off corrupt state institutions."

Due to the success of the pact, "Raúl Hasbún explained its workings to Jorge 40, [another paramilitary boss], who was put in charge of implementing the pact in Magdalena Province." According to Mancuso, "during times that the area was controlled by the guerrillas [left-wing groups], the biggest companies and unions agreed to stage strikes that would last up to a month. The strikes were an attempt to ruin the smaller banana companies and allow the bigger ones to absorb them and take control of the monopoly. … The first massacres of the union workers were committed by los esperanzados [the Popular Liberation Army], by FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia], and later, the self-defense groups [right-wing paramilitaries], when these took control over the area. The massacres allowed them to take apart the systems of social assistance negotiated with the unions" and send the workers back to their villages, having them plant crops on their parcels of land, which lowered costs.

These are the facts. Needless to say, I will formally confirm these findings and ask the Attorney General's Office to proceed with its investigation. I also make a painful appeal to the Justice Department and people of the United States to investigate the activities of the multinationals discussed here, and to consider requesting the extradition of their officers, as well as opening the way to civil suits and the payment of damages to fairly compensate the victims of the Colombian conflict.

Thanks for the support people have expressed at desurasur@gmail.com.

Spanish Version Below

'Todas las bananeras nos pagaban': Mancuso

Mayo 13 de 2007 - DE SUR A SUR

El 18 de marzo escribí una columna titulada 'Cuatro millones de balazos' en la que hablo sobre el caso Chiquita Brands Inc. Alegando que los contenidos de la columna afectaban su buen nombre, Banacol, que compró a Chiquita Brands Inc. en el 2004, me hizo llegar una carta respetuosa en la que exigía una rectificación, pues la subsidiaria de Chiquita en aquel momento era Banaldex, lo cual es verdad, y con el fin de "hacer precisión de la información, dar claridad a los lectores y dejar en alto el nombre de Banacol", a lo cual respondí asumiendo la responsabilidad de rectificar, si procedía.

Mi investigación se soportaba en documentos legales y las declaraciones de dos testigos anónimos, ex empleados del sector y permitía concluir con solvencia que el sector bananero en su totalidad ha estado vinculado con guerrillas, autodefensas y delincuencia. Por eso, le solicite a la compañía una declaración en la que certificaran que jamás habían sostenido relación con grupos armados al margen de la ley. En respuesta, enviaron un comunicado firmado por Uniban, Banacol y Proban en la que señalan que "nuestra política frente a organizaciones ilegales como guerrilla, autodefensas y delincuencia común ha sido la de no transigir frente a sus pretensiones (...) actuamos dentro de la normatividad legal (...)".

El día 7 de mayo del 2007 me reuní con Salvatore Mancuso en la cárcel de máxima seguridad de Itagüí. Interrogado sobre la cuestión, Mancuso respondió: "Todas las bananeras nos pagaban. Todas". Según su relato, "a finales de 1997, el padre de Raúl Hasbún, empresario bananero, murió en un accidente aéreo, lo que produjo una reunión de todas las bananeras en la que se nombra a Raúl Hasbún como su representante en las autodefensas. Producto de esa reunión, Raúl se convierte en intermediario y luego, en el comandante del Bloque Bananero".

"Se pactó este acuerdo con Chiquita Brands Inc, Dole, Banacol, Uniban, Proban y Del Monte. Nos pagaban 1 centavo de dólar por cada caja que salía del país. El resto de empresas del sector hacían un aporte semestral. La empresa Dole se encargaba de recoger el dinero y finalizar la operación, de la que se tenía pleno conocimiento en las compañías y que se calificaba como una contribución a la convivir Papagayo". "El producto de esas contribuciones se distribuía proporcionalmente entre la Casa Castaño, el Bloque Bananero, una parte para inversión social y otra para pagar corrupción de instituciones del Estado".

Debido al éxito del pacto, "Raúl Hasbún le explica el modelo a 'Jorge 40', quien se encarga de duplicarlo en el Magdalena".

Según Mancuso, "en los tiempos en los que la zona era controlada por la guerrilla, las grandes compañías y los sindicatos acordaron unos paros que se prolongaban hasta por un mes. Los paros buscaban arruinar a los pequeños bananeros y les permitieron a las grandes compañías absorberlos y hacerse con el monopolio". "Las primeras masacres de sindicalistas las hacen los "esperanzados" (ex Epl), las Farc y, más tarde, las autodefensas, cuando se hicieron con el control de la zona. Las masacres les permitieron desmontar los modelos de asistencia social pactados con los sindicatos", devolver a los trabajadores a los pueblos y ponerlos a sembrar en sus parcelas para rebajar los costos.

Estos son los hechos. Por supuesto, hago formal mi voluntad de confirmar las conclusiones y solicitar a la Fiscalía General de la Nación que proceda a investigar. Hago también un doloroso llamado a la justicia y al pueblo de los Estados Unidos para que se investiguen las actividades de las multinacionales aquí mencionadas, y se considere la solicitud de extradición de sus directivos, así como la apertura de procesos por daños civiles que permitan reparar efectiva y proporcionalmente a las víctimas del conflicto colombiano.

Gracias por la solidaridad expresada en desurasur@gmail.com.