A tiny amount for such a large corporation. The only message this sends to them is that it’s worth employing death squads.
I think good news here is the legal precedent this sets for suing corporations for crimes against humanity.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Banana giant Chiquita Brands must pay $38.3 million to 16 family members of people killed during Colombia’s long civil war by a violent right-wing paramilitary group funded by the company, a federal jury in Florida decided.
The verdict Monday by a jury in West Palm Beach marks the first time the company has been found liable in any of multiple similar lawsuits pending elsewhere in U.S. courts, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.
These families, victimized by armed groups and corporations, asserted their power and prevailed in the judicial process,” Marco Simons, EarthRights International General Counsel and one plaintiff’s lawyer, said in a news release.
“The 2016 peace deal … calls for the creation of a tribunal that will disclose judicial truths, why don’t we have one?” Petro posted on X, referencing the year the civil conflict ended.
“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.”
In 2007, Chiquita pleaded guilty to a U.S. criminal charge of engaging in transactions with a foreign terrorist organization — the AUC was designated such a group by the State Department in 2001 — and agreed to pay a $25 million fine.
The original article contains 479 words, the summary contains 210 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
