June 2007

In May, the Bush Administration and key Democrats in Congress announced a trade deal intended to clear the way for votes on pending free trade agreements with Panama and Peru. The deal would strengthen protections for worker rights. However, the text of the agreement has not yet been written, leaving unanswered critical questions about the effectiveness of the new protections.

The anti-sweatshop movement suffered another loss when the Just Garments factory was forced to closed in El Salvador in April 2007.

The sole U.S. distributor of flowers from a Colombian plantation where workers have received death threats has refused to respond to repeated requests from USLEAP for assistance.

A former paramilitary leader testified in Colombia that all banana companies have paid paramilitary groups, naming Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita. In March 2007, Chiquita agreed to pay a $25 million fine to the U.S. Justice Department for having paid protection money to Colombia's leading paramilitary group between 1997 and 2004.

Growing frustration with Chiquita's failure to address worker rights concerns at plantations in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica prompted Latin American banana unions to issue a broad-ranging alert to groups in the U.S. and Europe in early June, asking for international support.