Jury In Florida Finds Chiquita Funded Violent Colombian Paramilitary Group
HuffPost
The federal jury ordered the banana giant to pay $38.3 million to 16 family members of people killed during Colombia’s long civil war.
Banana giant Chiquita Brands must pay $38.3 million to 16 family members of people killed during Colombia’s long civil war by a violent right-wing paramilitary group funded by the company, a federal jury in Florida decided.
The verdict Monday by a jury in West Palm Beach marks the first time the company has been found liable in any of multiple similar lawsuits pending elsewhere in U.S. courts, lawyers for the plaintiffs said. It also marks a rare finding that blames a private U.S. company for human rights abuses in other countries.
“This verdict sends a powerful message to corporations everywhere: profiting from human rights abuses will not go unpunished. These families, victimized by armed groups and corporations, asserted their power and prevailed in the judicial process,” Marco Simons, EarthRights International General Counsel and one plaintiff’s lawyer, said in a news release.
“The situation in Colombia was tragic for so many,” Chiquita, whose banana operations are based in Florida, said in a statement after the verdict. “However, that does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for these claims.”
According to court documents, Chiquita paid the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia — known by its Spanish acronym AUC — about $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004. The AUC is blamed for the killings of thousands of people during those years.
It comes two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
The teenager was healthy before developing symptoms and is not known to have any contact with infected animals, health officials said.
Images online showed people damaging property and setting firecrackers. A police vehicle was later burned out in a nearby street and police said they suspect arson.
Afghanistan has had the highest number of children made homeless by climate disasters of any country as of the end of 2023, according to a report.
New Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people including children in Lebanon and northern Gaza.
The Dutch capital imposed the ban following attacks by youth on fans of an Israeli soccer club, as well as anti-Palestinian behavior and chants by those fans.
Qatar officials told Israel and Hamas that it can't continue to mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith."
Experts called the humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip “extremely grave and rapidly deteriorating."
The Santiago-based organization is asking the government to recognize them legally as a religious association.
Some 62 people were arrested over the violence following the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
When a volcanic eruption buried the ancient city of Pompeii, the last desperate moments of its citizens were preserved for centuries.