August 9, 2009 8:19 PM
- Text
The Price Of Bananas
The Justice Department decided not to prosecute any corporate officers at Chiquita, which included prominent businessmen such as former CEO Cyrus Freidheim Jr., who later led the Sun-Times Media Group, and board member Roderick Hills, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The decision created a furor in Colombia. The country's prosecutor general said he would begin his own investigation, and has threatened to extradite some of Chiquita's executives to stand trial in Colombia.
There's also a Congressional investigation, led by Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts, who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.
Rep. Delahunt has been quoted as saying that Chiquita is the tip of the iceberg.
Asked what he means by that, Delahunt tells Kroft, "Well, I think that there are other American companies that have conducted themselves the same way that Chiquita has, except they haven't been caught."
How many companies?
"Well, there are several," Delahunt says.
Delahunt says he doesn't want to share more information "because I want to give those companies an opportunity to come before the committee."
60 Minutes did find one person who was willing to name names inside a maximum security prison outside Medellin: Salvatore Mancuso was once the leader of the paramilitaries.
"Chiquita says the reason they paid the money was because your people would kill them if they didn't. Is that true?" Kroft asks.
"No it is not true," Mancuso says. "They paid taxes because we were like a state in the area, and because we were providing them with protection which enabled them to continue making investments and a financial profit."
"What would have happened to Chiquita and its employees if they had not paid you?" Kroft asks.
"The truth is, we never thought about what would happen because they did so willingly," Mancuso says.
Asked if the company had a choice, Mancuso says, "Yes, they had a choice. They could go to the local police or army for protection from the guerillas, but the army and police at that time were barely able to protect themselves."
Mancuso helped negotiate a deal with the Colombian government that allowed more than 30,000 paramilitaries to give up their arms and demobilize in return for reduced prison sentences. As part of the deal, the paramilitaries must truthfully confess to all crimes, or face much harsher penalties.
"Was Chiquita the only American company that paid you?" Kroft asks Mancuso.
"All companies in the banana region paid. For instance, there was Dole and Del Monte, which I believe are U.S. companies," Mancuso claims.
Both Dole Food Company and Fresh Del Monte Produce, which is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods, have issued statements strongly denying that they made payments to the paramilitaries. Fresh Del Monte Produce said its Colombian operation is "limited to a sales office which purchases bananas from independent growers."
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. The decision created a furor in Colombia. The country's prosecutor general said he would begin his own investigation, and has threatened to extradite some of Chiquita's executives to stand trial in Colombia.
There's also a Congressional investigation, led by Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts, who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.
Rep. Delahunt has been quoted as saying that Chiquita is the tip of the iceberg.
Asked what he means by that, Delahunt tells Kroft, "Well, I think that there are other American companies that have conducted themselves the same way that Chiquita has, except they haven't been caught."
How many companies?
"Well, there are several," Delahunt says.
Delahunt says he doesn't want to share more information "because I want to give those companies an opportunity to come before the committee."
60 Minutes did find one person who was willing to name names inside a maximum security prison outside Medellin: Salvatore Mancuso was once the leader of the paramilitaries.
"Chiquita says the reason they paid the money was because your people would kill them if they didn't. Is that true?" Kroft asks.
"No it is not true," Mancuso says. "They paid taxes because we were like a state in the area, and because we were providing them with protection which enabled them to continue making investments and a financial profit."
"What would have happened to Chiquita and its employees if they had not paid you?" Kroft asks.
"The truth is, we never thought about what would happen because they did so willingly," Mancuso says.
Asked if the company had a choice, Mancuso says, "Yes, they had a choice. They could go to the local police or army for protection from the guerillas, but the army and police at that time were barely able to protect themselves."
Mancuso helped negotiate a deal with the Colombian government that allowed more than 30,000 paramilitaries to give up their arms and demobilize in return for reduced prison sentences. As part of the deal, the paramilitaries must truthfully confess to all crimes, or face much harsher penalties.
"Was Chiquita the only American company that paid you?" Kroft asks Mancuso.
"All companies in the banana region paid. For instance, there was Dole and Del Monte, which I believe are U.S. companies," Mancuso claims.
Both Dole Food Company and Fresh Del Monte Produce, which is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods, have issued statements strongly denying that they made payments to the paramilitaries. Fresh Del Monte Produce said its Colombian operation is "limited to a sales office which purchases bananas from independent growers."
77 Comments +
Popular Now in 60 Minutes
- A Face in the Crowd: Say goodbye to anonymity
- North Korean prisoner escaped after 23 brutal years
- Michael Jackson's lucrative legacy
- North Korean prisoner escaped after 23 brutal years
- MJ's "manifesto," penned in 1979
- Afghan children on a long and perilous journey
- A Face in the Crowd, Three Generations of Punishment, Michael Jackson
- Bill Gates on Steve Jobs: We grew up together
- Bill Gates 2.0
- Michael Jackson's lucrative legacy
- Taylor Swift: A young singer's meteoric rise
- A Face in the Crowd: Say goodbye to anonymity
- A Long and Dangerous Journey, Lion Kings, Taylor Swift
- Becoming human: Shin's new life
- Hitler's Secret Archive
- Taylor Swift: A young singer's meteoric rise
