Chiquita Brands International Inc. will pay $25 million in fines for payments its made to paramilitary groups, also often referred to as narcoterrorists, in Colombia over the past fifteen years. The payments were reportedly made to three groups, in exchange for protection for the banana company's workers.
The groups included the right wing United Self Defense Forces (known as AUC, an acronym for their name in Spanish, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia), and the left wing groups, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
The payment comes out of a deal made with the Justice Department, after after Chiquita pled guilty to terrorist financing in March, 2007. Company executives who made the payment decisions will not face criminal charges.
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