USLEAP Issues Statement on Chiquita's Payments to Armed Groups in Colombia

March 2007: Payments to Colombia's paramilitary and guerilla groups, while not anti-union, underscore need to defeat trade agreement with Colombia. Uribe government interest in extradition of Chiquita officials hypocritical.

USLEAP Statement on Chiquita Payments
to Terrorist Groups in Colombia

Background: On March 19, Chiquita pleaded guilty to making payments to Colombia's largest paramilitary group over a six-year period. Chiquita reportedly also made payments to two guerilla groups, depending on which group controlled the company's banana growing region. Chiquita has described the payments in court documents as protection money. All three groups, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were designated terrorist organizations after September 9, 2001, rending such payments illegal under U.S. law. Wide-spread coverage of this story (e.g. the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press) has prompted numerous inquiries to USLEAP given its long-term engagement with Chiquita in the region.