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El Tiempo, Colombia

Four Million Bullets: 'Congratulations' Chiquita Banana!

 

"The case against Chiquita is a great opportunity to rip the lid off the putrid cauldron cooked up by companies that have enriched themselves with impunity on the blood of the people. Justice must not remain silent."

 

By Natalia Springer

                                  

 

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

 

March 20, 2007

 

Colombia - El Tiempo - Original Article (Spanish)    

Congratulations to the defense team of Chiquita Brands Inc! One must have a great imagination and no scruples at all to allege ignorance of "protection" money paid by the company "in good faith" to the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and ELN (National Liberation Army) during the 1990s, or the contribution of $1.7 million it made to the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) since 1997, right in the heat of the campaign to "pacify" the Magdalena Media region.

 

[Editor's Note: Chiquita Brands International pleaded guilty Monday 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 ].

 

It is incomprehensible how the investigation could have been concluded with such an absurdly low fine, when it's obvious that the money was not a donation, and that the organizations involved were not charities but rather terrorist groups so categorized by the United States government – in clear violation of the "Patriot Act" as well as all kinds of administrative orders and the former policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

 

Moreover, the possibility that these dealings were part of a series of transactions involving the company in drug trafficking cannot be dismissed, if it is verified that it was aware that drugs were being smuggled in containers of bananas.

 

Also, it remains unclear whether these payments to illegal armed groups – which were the de-facto authorities on the ground - could have constituted a method of evading taxes and to obtain free access to the region's ports, which would have guaranteed tremendous benefits to the company in the handling of its exports by customs.

 

Chiquita Brands Inc. has a long tradition of shady dealings in Latin America. In his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude [Cien años de soledad], Gabriel García Márquez preserved for posterity the memory of the "Banana Massacre," which took place in Ciénaga in December, 1928, which was the result of protests against horrific working conditions by laborers of the United Fruit Company - Chiquita's predecessor .

 

[Editor's Note: The 'Banana Massacre' that the author refers to is also known as the Santa Marta Massacre, and took place on December 28, 1928, when an army regiment from Bogotá was dispatched to deal with workers striking for better working conditions. The number of dead varies from the government estimate of 47 to independent researchers like Gabriel García Márquez, who put the figure as high as 2,000 ].

 

It is widely believed that the company collaborated with the CIA with the intention of overthrowing the "anti-capitalist" government, which threatened its interests in Guatemala in the 1950s; this is also tied to a series of illegal payments to the President of Honduras in the 1970s.

This case not only opens a new chapter in the application of justice and peace, but it allows for the exploration of big capital's responsibility for the armed conflict in Colombia. It is in addition a great opportunity to rip the lid off the putrid cauldron cooked up by companies that have enriched themselves with impunity on the blood of the people.

 

Confronted by the powerful oil lobby over the defense of their ancestral lands, we remain silent about the genocide of the U'Wa tribe . We continue to stand by hoping to learn more about the participation of banks in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars a year from drug trafficking. The Chiquita Brands case must trigger a process that reveals the economic levers of agrarian counter-reform in Colombia. The case against the Riggs Bank  for money laundering to the benefit of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet  is an example to follow.

 

Now pay attention. Chiquita Brands Inc., through its affiliate Banacol, imported and stored a container with 3,400 rifles and 4 million rounds of ammunition for the war "to protect the lives of our employees," as they put it. These are the 4 million bullets that have torn apart the whole of Colombia and unleashed a wave of terror and violence which is causing one of the gravest humanitarian crises in the world. Justice must not remain silent.

 

desurasur@gmail.com

 

Spanish Version Below

 

Cuatro millones de balazos

 

Natalia Springer. Columnista de EL TIEMPO

 

Marzo 18 de 2007 - DE SUR A SUR

 

El caso de Chiquita Brands da lugar a la exploración de la responsabilidad de grandes capitales en el conflicto.

Aplausos para la defensa de la Chiquita Brands Inc. Hay que tener mucha imaginación y ningún escrúpulo para alegar ignorancia en los usos que se le dieron al dinero que, por el concepto de "protección", la compañía les pagó, de "buena fe", a las Farc y al Eln durante los años 90, o de las contribuciones que por 1,7 millones de dólares le hicieron a las Auc a partir del año 1997, en plena campaña de 'pacificación' del Magdalena Medio.

 

No se entiende cómo la investigación concluye con una multa irrisoria, cuando está claro que ese dinero no fue entregado en donación, ni las organizaciones involucradas eran entidades de caridad, sino grupos terroristas calificados así por el gobierno estadounidense, en franca violación del 'Patriot Act', de toda suerte de disposiciones administrativas y de la vieja política de no negociar con terroristas.

 

Tampoco se ha descartado que los tratos hubieran hecho parte de una serie de transacciones que involucrarían la participación de la compañía en el negocio del narcotráfico, si se comprueba que tenía conocimiento de que se transportaba droga en los contenedores de banano.

 

Igualmente está por establecerse si esos pagos a grupos armados ilegales, que eran las autoridades de facto en la zona, podrían haberse constituido en una forma de evadir impuestos y acceder libremente a los puertos, lo que les habría garantizado grandes beneficios en el manejo aduanero de sus exportaciones.

 

Chiquita Brands Inc. tiene una larga tradición de manejos turbios en América Latina. Los preservó para la memoria García Márquez en Cien años de soledad al recordar la "masacre de las bananeras" ocurrida en Ciénaga en diciembre de 1928, a raíz de las protestas de los trabajadores de la United Fruit Company, predecesora de Chiquita, que se alzaban contra las pobrísimas condiciones laborales.

 

Se cree también que la empresa patrocinó a la CIA en el propósito de derrocar al gobierno 'anticapitalista' que amenazaba sus intereses en Guatemala en los años 50 y se la relaciona además con una serie de pagos indebidos a un presidente de Honduras en los años 70.

 

Este caso no solo abre un nuevo capítulo en el proceso de Justicia y Paz y da lugar a la exploración de la responsabilidad de grandes capitales económicos en el desarrollo del conflicto armado en Colombia. Es, además, una oportunidad magnífica para destapar la olla podrida de las compañías que impunemente se han enriquecido a precio de sangre.

 

Seguimos callando ante al genocidio del pueblo u'wa, enfrentado contra el poderoso lobby del petróleo por la defensa de sus territorios ancestrales. Seguimos a la espera de conocer la participación de los bancos en el lavado de miles de millones de dólares del narcotráfico cada año. Este caso debe convertirse en el principio de una historia que revele con propiedad los móviles económicos de la contrarreforma agraria en Colombia. La causa contra el Riggs Bank por lavado de activos en favor del dictador Pinochet es un ejemplo que hay que seguir.

 

Fíjense, ustedes. Chiquita Brands Inc., a través de su filial Banacol, importó y almacenó un container con 3.400 fusiles y cuatro millones de cartuchos para la guerra, según ellos para "proteger la vida de los empleados". Esos son cuatro millones de balazos que despedazaron a Colombia entera y desataron una oleada de terror y de violencia que dio origen a una de las crisis humanitarias más graves del mundo. La justicia no puede guardar silencio.

 

desurasur@gmail.com

 






















Colombia may seek to extradite employees from Chiquita Brands International after the U.S. banana giant pleaded guilty to charges a subsidiary paid protection money to illegal paramilitary gangs, the country's top prosecutor said on Tuesday.


An advertisement pupular in the United States during the 1950s, for the United Fruit Company, the predecessor of Chiquita Brands.





An artist lampoons United Fruit's 1950s advertisement, chastizing the company for its percieved role in Latin America's guerilla-war chaos.


Entrance facade of old United Fruit Building on St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana.





Chiquita Brand's corprate headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.