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Chiquita faces new claims over Colombia terrorism
Chiquita Brands International Inc., owner of the namesake banana label, was sued by hundreds of families who claim relatives were kidnapped and murdered after the company helped Marxist rebels in Colombia.
The complaint filed yesterday in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, represents more than 240 people who were victims of violence. The plaintiffs, using a 1992 law allowing Americans to sue U.S. firms over terrorism-related deaths abroad, claim that Chiquita aided and abetted in the murders and provided material support and resources to terrorists.
The Cincinnati-based company was fined $25 million after pleading guilty in March 2007 to engaging in transactions with a terrorist group for paying Colombian paramilitary militias $1.7 million from 1997 to 2004. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages.
"Chiquita has already admitted to engaging in criminal conduct that violated federal law by making systematic financial payments to a foreign terrorist organization," Lee Wolosky, a Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. "Yet it has refused to provide compensation to the victims of terrorist atrocities made possible by its regular, repeated and knowing financial support."