by no_exit on 6/11/24, 2:58 PM with 318 comments
by thebeardisred on 6/11/24, 5:53 PM
[1]:https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/story-bananas-ban...
[2]:https://growjungles.com/united-fruit-company-in-costa-rica/
[3]:https://www.biggerlifeadventures.com/chiquita-bananas-cia-fu...
[4]:https://history.wsu.edu/rci/sample-research-project/
Edit: formatting
by xvector on 6/13/24, 3:02 AM
- Chiquita was forced to pay "protection money" to the AUC. Read: "pay us or we kill your employees and burn your plantations to the ground."
- Chiquita makes the payment and alerts the Department of Justice that they were forced to pay under duress.
- The AUC kills 8 people, as cartels tend to do.
- Chiquita is held accountable.
This does not seem reasonable: First you get extorted at threat to life/property, then you get punished for getting extorted. Furthermore, it's tenuous at best to say "8 people died because you paid the AUC." The AUC kills/maims/tortures children every day for fun. This is not an exaggeration, most people will never comprehend the sheer evil of these organizations.
Calling for the execution[1] of Chiquita execs as some HNers are doing is absurd. Should Chiquita just let their employees get tortured to death and watch their properties burn to the ground?
Perhaps the government of Columbia itself should be responsible for not exterminating its cartels, and instead allowing them to infiltrate the deepest ranks of its military and government.
by sensanaty on 6/13/24, 8:11 AM
Everyone involved needs to be locked away for a long, long time, not have to pay pennies as "punishment"
by advisedwang on 6/12/24, 9:58 PM
[1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/alien_tort_statute
[2] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4232180/in-re-chiquita-...
by lbsnake7 on 6/12/24, 3:41 PM
by 9cb14c1ec0 on 6/13/24, 12:36 AM
by hi-v-rocknroll on 6/13/24, 9:15 AM
by Gualdrapo on 6/12/24, 6:09 PM
by tomcam on 6/11/24, 7:52 PM
by rgovostes on 6/12/24, 4:58 AM
by buildsjets on 6/12/24, 9:58 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Cooper_Keith
https://westisliphistoricalsociety.org/index.php/archives/ma...
by kjkjadksj on 6/13/24, 4:38 AM
by caf on 6/13/24, 2:13 AM
by dmix on 6/13/24, 12:40 AM
> The banana giant said that it began making the payments after the leader of the AUC at the time, Carlos Castaño, implied that staff and property belonging to Chiquita's subsidiary in Colombia could be harmed if the money was not forthcoming
Not saying this is the case here but imagine if Mexico allowed families harmed by cartels to sue every businesses that paid off cartel mobsters threatening to ruin their business, because they happen to operate in areas where the police/army consistently fail to control them and the gov/police often colludes with the cartel.
AUC is pretty notorious for penetrating the Colombian gov and law enforcement at varying levels.
by sharpshadow on 6/13/24, 8:38 AM
by msarrel on 6/12/24, 4:37 PM
by sofixa on 6/11/24, 8:01 PM
Random Afghans and Iraqis were kidnapped for Guantanamo or outright murdered for less.
by barbazoo on 6/13/24, 4:11 PM
They had the choice between not doing business there and paying the criminals. They chose paying the criminals.
by lupire on 6/13/24, 1:37 PM
It's the same thing US residents do, with the same abusses by the government.
by ETH_start on 6/13/24, 6:40 AM
by bimguy on 6/13/24, 4:59 AM
by forinti on 6/13/24, 9:59 AM
In another 100 years they might actually get a real sentence.
by banku_brougham on 6/12/24, 8:11 PM
edit: I just learned about Ken Saro-Wiwa
by mediumsmart on 6/12/24, 3:32 AM
we, the people, are liable
by silexia on 6/14/24, 8:00 PM
by bluSCALE4 on 6/13/24, 6:05 AM
by dventimi on 6/12/24, 10:08 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2013/12/21/co...
by notatoad on 6/13/24, 2:27 AM
so not like, historical atrocities from the era most people think of when they say "banana republics". current-era atrocities, perpetrated by people who probably still work at the company today.
by njovin on 6/12/24, 3:47 PM
I'm very happy that an example is being made of them to warn other corporations that committing murder to protect your profits may cause a slight dip in your next earnings report.
by debo_ on 6/12/24, 3:31 PM
by password_ on 6/12/24, 8:10 PM