Chiquita sues to block release of documents related to terror group payments [View all]

[Teamster Jeff]

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Charlotte-based Chiquita sued the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to block the release of documents related to payments the company made to terrorist groups in Colombia to protect its banana-growing interests.

The company paid the Justice Department a $25-million fine in 2007, after admitting that it had given Colombian paramilitary groups the U.S. classifies as terrorist organizations more than $1.7 million. Chiquita has maintained that it was extorted by the groups and made the payments in an attempt to protect its workers.

But a lawsuit by thousands of Colombians who claim their relatives were killed by the paramilitary groups is still working its way through federal court in Florida. The plaintiffs allege the paramilitary groups helped keep labor unions out of the banana fields and brutalized workers.
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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/05/3962238/chiquita-sues-to-block-release.html#storylink=cpy