It was a long 17 years of waiting for the nine victims of the Colombian armed conflict who denounced the banana multinational Chiquita for its links with paramilitarism in Colombia.
Finally, on Monday (06/10/2024), the verdict of a Florida court came: Chiquita must pay eight of the nine plaintiffs compensation of between 2 and 2.7 million dollars for financing the Unitary Self-Defense Forces between 1997 and 2004. of Colombia (AUC), responsible for murders in the Urabá area.
In 2007, the banana company was investigated by the United States Department of Justice and admitted in federal court to having paid $1.7 million to the AUC, claiming it was to protect its workers. The US authorities fined him $25 million, but this money was not allocated to the victims.
This ruling was the starting point of the current lawsuit, supported by EarthRights International.
A dark past
Chiquita’s history in Colombia is stained with blood since it operated as United Fruits Company. In 1928, this company was at the center of a massacre committed by the Colombian Army of striking workers, known as the “banana massacre”, which left an undefined number of dead.
Regarding the recent ruling against Chiquita, Daniel Cerqueira, of the Due Process Foundation, in an interview with DW, comments: “For Chiquita, this has an enormous reputational cost. Ultimately, the company’s operations around the world will have to be much more cautious.”
Also because more than 7,000 other people have filed legal actions against Chiquita for links to paramilitarism. The banana multinational has announced that it will appeal the sentence.
A historic ruling
“This is the first time that a jury in the United States has ordered compensation from a company for human rights violations outside the United States,” says Daniel Cerqueira. This case could inspire future similar lawsuits in other countries.
This is not the first time that multinational companies have faced accusations of violence in Colombia. Mining company Drummond and Coca-Cola have also been accused of financing paramilitary groups.
The Drummond and Coca-Cola cases
The Drummond mining company has faced two civil lawsuits in the United States for allegedly financing paramilitary groups to protect its mining operations, which would have resulted in the intimidation and murder of union and community leaders. Although the US Justice Department rejected the claims, in January 2024 the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office announced that it will call 72 businessmen from the firm to trial.
In a similar case, Coca-Cola was accused of various human rights violations, including alleged links with paramilitary groups to repress union activity, which resulted in the murder of more than ten union members. The complaint, filed in 2002 before a judge in the Miami District Court (Florida), was filed in 2009, but remains an emblematic case.
International cases
Other Latin American countries have faced similar cases. In 2017, Earth Rights International sued members of the World Bank Group for financing the agrarian company Dinant in Honduras, accused of attacks and massacres against farmers. In November 2023, the parties reached an agreement to end the case.
In January 2019, a dam at an iron mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, collapsed, killing 272 people and contaminating the Paraopeba River with toxic sludge. The Brazilian subsidiary of German consulting firm TÜV SÜD had confirmed the safety of the dam just four months earlier, despite known risks. In October 2019, victims of the disaster filed a complaint against TÜV SÜD with the public prosecutor’s office in Munich.
Aggressive defenses of companies
These processes are complex and often last for years. Daniel Cerqueira explains that this also has to do with the companies’ aggressive defense practices.
“Large companies spend more on legal defense than they would pay in compensation, to avoid opening a precedent,” explains the lawyer. Gimena Sánchez, from the Washington Office on Latin American Affairs (WOLA), adds that companies hire local subsidiaries to distance themselves from the events, complicating the pursuit of responsibilities.
Future of justice
Currently, there is no binding international treaty that regulates the extraterritorial obligations of companies, although “it is clear that international law enshrines the responsibility of companies’ countries of origin,” says Daniel Cerqueira.
The ruling of the US court could lead the Prosecutor’s Office to reopen similar cases in Colombia, comments Gimena Sánchez. However, payments to armed groups by international companies continue to occur in many areas of the country, “where operating without paying extortion is almost impossible.”
The expert points out that the situation is more complex due to the fragmentation of the groups and the fact that financial support is provided in a less formalized manner than in the case of Chiquita. (ms)
