Chiquita Banana has been found liable by a Florida jury for financing a far-right Columbian paramilitary group, and has been ordered to pay $38.3m to the families of victims killed by the militants.
The civil case was tried in the Southern District of Florida and found that the company "knowingly provided substantial assistance to the [Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia] to a degree sufficient to create a foreseeable risk of harm to others," according to CNN.
The suit was brought by the families of eight victims who were killed by the far-right group, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US government in 2001. The group participated in widespread human rights abuses in Columbia, including the murders of individuals it believed were linked to left-wing rebels.
The far-right organization reportedly disbanded in 2006, according to Stanford University's Mapping Militants Project.
The lawsuit was first brought in 2008, alleging that Chiquita Banana paid the group, which allowed them to carry out violent attacks in Columbia. Now, 16 years later, the victims’ families finally have a judgment in their favor.
Chiquita pleaded guilty in 2007 to paying more than $1.7m to the group over the course of more than 100 payments, despite the group being recognized as a terror organization. The payments were made between 1997 and 2004.
The payments were recorded as "security services," but the Justice Department found that Chiquita Banana never actually received any services from the group.
At the time, the company agreed to pay a $25m fine.
A company executive, who was not named at the time of the statement, said Chiquita Banana made the payments under threat of violence. The executive claimed the group’s leader, Carlos Castaño, made veiled threats against the company's subsidiary company and staff in Columbia if he was not paid.
Even still, the Florida jury determined that the company failed to “act as a reasonable businessperson would have acted under the circumstances.”
Chiquita Banana said it plans to appeal the ruling.
“The situation in Colombia was tragic for so many, including those directly affected by the violence there, and our thoughts remain with them and their families. However, that does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for these claims,” the company said in a statement. “While we are disappointed by the decision, we remain confident that our legal position will ultimately prevail.”
Gustavo Petro, Columbia's president, asked why justice for the crimes committed by Chiquita Banana were only found in the US, and not in Columbia.
“Why could US justice determine in judicial truth that Chiquita Brands financed paramilitarism in Urabá? Why couldn’t Colombian justice?” he asked in a post on X.
Agnieszka Fryszman, a lead attorney representing the plaintiffs, issued a statement celebrating the ruling and praising the families that brought the lawsuit against Chiquita Banana, saying they "risked their lives to come forward to hold Chiquita to account, putting their faith in the United States justice system," according to the BBC.
She also said that "the verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed, but it sets the record straight and places accountability for funding terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita's doorstep."
Chiquita Banana faces a second case brought by a different group of plaintiffs set to begin trial on July 15.
