May 11, 2008
The Price Of Bananas
Steve Kroft On How Colombian Paramilitaries Landed A U.S. Corporation In Hot Water
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The Price Of Bananas
Chiquita Brands International says it paid murderous paramilitaries in Colombia to protect its employees there, but the families of civilians killed by the paramilitaries fault the company for their deaths. Steve Kroft reports.
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Colombia
Learn about the people, economy and history.
Chiquita Brands International of Cincinnati, Ohio, found out the hard way. It made millions growing bananas there, only to emerge with its reputation splattered in blood after acknowledging it had paid nearly $2 million in protection money to a murderous paramilitary group that has killed or massacred thousands of people.
As correspondent Steve Kroft reports, the Colombian government is now talking about extraditing Chiquita executives to Colombia, and investigators in Bogota and on Capitol Hill are looking at other U.S. companies that may have done the same thing.
From the air, the plains of the Uraba region are carpeted with lush foliage of banana plantations, which have long provided a livelihood for the people of northern Colombia. And for the better part of century, its best known product has been the Chiquita banana.
But since the 1980's, the business of bananas there has been punctuated with gunfire. First, the area was taken over by Marxist guerillas called the "FARC," whose ruthlessness at killing and kidnapping was exceeded only by the private paramilitary army that rose up to fight them. Chiquita found itself trying to grow bananas in the middle of a war, in which the Colombian government and its army were of no help.
"These lands were lands where there was no law. It was impossible for the government to protect employees," says Fernando Aguirre, who became Chiquita's CEO long after all this happened.
Aguirre says the company was forced to pay taxes to the guerillas when they controlled the territory in the late 1980s and early 90s. When the paramilitaries, known as the "AUC," moved in in 1997 they demanded the same thing.
"Did the paramilitaries state, specifically to you, that if you didn't make the payments, your people would be killed?" Kroft asks.
"There was a very, very strong signal that if the company would not make payments, that things would happen. And since they had already killed at least 50 people, employees of the company, it was clear to everyone there that these guys meant business," Aguirre says.
Chiquita only had a couple of options and none of them were particularly good. It could refuse to pay the paramilitaries and run the risk that its employees could be killed or kidnapped, it could pack up and leave the country all together and abandon its most profitable enterprise, or it could stay and pay protection, and in the process, help finance the atrocities that were being committed all across the countryside.
"These were extortion payments," Aguirre says. “Either you pay or your people get killed.”
"And you decided to pay," Kroft remarks.
"And the company decided to pay, absolutely," Aguirre says.
There was no doubt in the company's mind that the paramilitaries were very bad people, Aguirre says.
Just how bad was already becoming evident. The paramilitaries, who were funded initially by large landowners, and later by the cocaine trade, not only drove the Marxist guerillas from the area, they tried to eliminate anyone who might have leftist sympathies, from labor leaders to school teachers. Sometimes entire villages were wiped out in the most grisly fashion. Gloria Cuartes was the mayor of Apartado, and witnessed much of it with her own eyes.
"I was a mayor whose job was just to gather the dead," Cuartes says.
In 1996 she went to a school to talk to the children about the violence that surrounded them. While she was there, the paramilitaries arrived and murdered a 12-year-old boy, whose only crime had been to announce their presence.
"They cut off his head, and they threw the head at us," Cuartes remembers. "I went into a state of panic. They were there for four hours, with their weapons, firing shots toward the ceiling. One hundred girls and boys were with me. The children did not scream. They were in shock."
Asked if they said anything to her, Cuartes says, "No. Their language was death. Their message was that if they could do this to children, they could do it to me."
As the atrocities piled up all across the country, Chiquita continued to make the payments to the paramilitaries, viewing itself as a victim of the violence, not a facilitator.
Produced by Andy Court
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 76 CommentsThe Great Emperor fears that if Congress sees this segment, it will doom any hope he has for CFTA to be passed, even if the Great Pretender, "Bagdad John McBush" McCain becomes Great Emperor. Then how will the Great Emperor explain to his wealthy corporate buddies that they can''t more jobs to Columbia after all!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, DEFINITELY MORE OF THE SAME, McCain!!!
The Times said Dale Davis, 78, of Alta, called the game "quite a thrill." He rolled 12 back-to-back strikes, the first-ever perfect game at the Century Lanes, The Times reported.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A blind Iowa man scored a perfect 300 game at the Century Lanes bowling alley on Saturday, The Storm Lake Times reported.
The Times said Dale Davis, 78, of Alta, called the game "quite a thrill." He rolled 12 back-to-back strikes, the first-ever perfect game at the Century Lanes, The Times reported.
read stephen kinzer''s "Overthrow: America''s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq". google united fruit and understand how cia connections abuse power to control outside country resources (dulles, bush).
it''s going on today. read john perkins'' "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and watch bbc world news and you will see how as predicted, wolfowitz championed the invasion, then was appointed to the world bank. the highest paid multinational oil company lawyers drafted a 400 page PSA they want iraq to sign that gives away 50% of their oil. oh, and bremmer did his part by attempting to slip in a law "allowing mineral rights to be owned by outside companies who had the right to export all the profits" days before fleeing.
Talk about forcing people to sign under pressure! officials in iraq are not free to act in their national interests (hemmed-in just like congress members who can''t/won''t investigate blackwater killings). Hasty contracts at this point is like the difference to occupied cuba between AND/OR in "the us may utilize guantanamo bay until cuba AND the u.s. agree otherwise" (1900''s).
do this: next time you hear of a iranian boat skirmish TRY to pinpoint the exact gps location on a map of the hormuz straits and territorial waters. you just may find another gulf of tonkin war lie being perpetrated.
Alan Smith
Austin, TX
Alan Smith
Austin, TX
Mia
At oone point, the English translation of her interview stated the following: "100 hundred girls and boys were with me," when in fact, what she said in Spanish was the following, " I saw how the animals ate the bodies of the people."
I am very concerned with the inaccurate translation. I fear it may have been changed because her eyewitness account of what happened may have been too disturbing for viewers. If this was the reason why, it disturbs me to know that a story was not aired in a truthful and accurate manner. I hope 60 minutes and the producer, Andy Court, will issue a correction and an explanaition.
Jose Rene
Hartford, CT
On our site, www.affectedmovie.com you can see a list of books by very respectable writers that discuss this and other related issues.
The history of United Fruit Company''s (name later changed to Chiquita) actions in Latin America are fairly damning. This ''extortion'' payment shows once again the collusion between U.S. multinationals, the US government (why wasn''t there a trial? Why is paying a fine good enough?) and much of the ''free'' press. Take a look at where Chiquita''s old CEO ended up, that''s right, head of Sun-Times media group.
If you''re interested in looking for solutions and sick of just pointing the finger check out our site...we''re sick of the blame game too.
The history of United Fruit Company''s (name later changed to Chiquita) actions in Latin America are fairly damning. This ''extortion'' payment shows once again the collusion between U.S. multinationals, the US government (why wasn''t there a trial? Why is paying a fine good enough?) and much of the ''free'' press. Take a look at where Chiquita''s old CEO ended up, that''s right, head of Sun-Times media group.
On our site you find links to podcasts, books and films that discuss related issues by respected authors, journalists, and filmmakers.
If you''re interested in looking for solutions and sick of just pointing the finger check out our site...we''re sick of the blame game too.
There is something fundamentally wrong when the production of food, which is meant to nourish, kills and poisons those that produce and consume it!
At oone point, the English translation of her interview stated the following: "100 hundred girls and boys were with me," when in fact, what she said in Spanish was the following, " I saw how the animals ate the bodies of the people."
I am very concerned with the inaccurate translation. I fear it may have been changed because her eyewitness account of what happened may have been too disturbing for viewers. If this was the reason why, it disturbs me to know that a story was not aired in a truthful and accurate manner. I hope 60 minutes and the producer, Andy Court, will issue a correction and an explanaition.
Jose Rene
Hartford, CT
but lets get down to bananas. its been found that chavez has been supporting the FARC, and ecuador too. Chavez needs to be brought to justice and morales in ecuador. The monroe doctrine provides for non foriegn involvement in the americas. socialism is a european phenom. chavez needs to be brought in, tried and shot, any socialist must face the same end. socialism & dictatorships are all european political phenoms, as is feudalism.
Had GWB been the leader this nation needs, imanutjob & chavez would have made it 200 miles out of JFK airport after the UN mtg. That is leadership America sorely lakes. We need a Polk in the white house.
The history of United Fruit Company''s (name later changed to Chiquita) actions in Latin America are fairly damning. This ''extortion'' payment shows once again the collusion between U.S. multinationals, the US government (why wasn''t there a trial? Why is paying a fine good enough?) and much of the ''free'' press. Take a look at where Chiquita''s old CEO ended up, that''s right, head of Sun-Times media group.
On our site you find links to podcasts, books and films that discuss related issues by respected authors, journalists, and filmmakers.
If you''re interested in looking for solutions and sick of just pointing the finger check out our site...we''re sick of the blame game too.
There is something fundamentally wrong when the production of food, which is meant to nourish, kills and poisons those that produce and consume it!
Given the enormous power of Chiquita Brand, and its ability to shut down the Cincinnati Enquirer, including the burial of all research and notes from the Enquirer''s expose, I can understand why Steve Kroft and CBS would want to tread lightly on this story.
Still it is sad that Kroft provided no historical context of Chiquita/United Fruit abysmal record in the region, from massacres to worker intimidation. United Fruit was even able to persuade Eisenhower to overthrow a democratic government in Guatemala, inaugurating nearly a half century of terror.
Kroft allowed Chiquita to portray itself as the poor victim of extortion, defending its workers. (That would be a historical first.) He never looked into current allegations of human rights abuses by Chiquita.
I suppose CBS was intimidated by Chiquita''s vast legal army. Still it would be nice to air the full story on Chiquita.
The hopes you have are found in our film. Before we deal with present day issues like the Nemagon cases or these issues in Colombia we are taking the viewer through a history of United Fruit Company (Chiquita) so people understand the depth of their meddling both in our own domestic politics but also in those of sovereign nations.
We''re even looking into the Cincinnati Enquirer story.
Apparently the story about Nike wasn''t enough for most of us, we see it, we want it, we buy it.
The only people who can stop it is us--I for one, will not purchase imported produce.
What ever happened to growing our own and canning? It was good enough for most of our parents--we can sit here and moan and complain--but that isn''t going to fix anything!
They have hurt us in our pocketbooks, we can hurt them in theirs--it just takes a little more work.
The history of United Fruit Company''''s (name later changed to Chiquita) actions in Latin America are fairly damning. This ''''extortion'''' payment shows once again the collusion between U.S. multinationals, the US government (why wasn''''t there a trial? Why is paying a fine good enough?) and much of the ''''free'''' press. Take a look at where Chiquita''''s old CEO ended up, that''''s right, head of Sun-Times media group.
On our site you find links to podcasts, books and films that discuss related issues by respected authors, journalists, and filmmakers.
If you''''re interested in looking for solutions and sick of just pointing the finger check out our site...we''''re sick of the blame game too.
There is something fundamentally wrong when the production of food, which is meant to nourish, kills and poisons those that produce and consume it!
This financial aid to the Colombian government has been extremely effective in stopping the terrorists of FARC and the para-military forces. The city of Medellin, once known as the murder capital of the world, now has fewer homicides than Washington, D.C.
What is most puzzling is that Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership is against the trade agreement with Colombia. Pelosi has said she is concerned about the treatment of Colombian workers and labor union leftists say they are troubled by the assassination of trade unionists even though the killings have dropped dramatically in recent years. All this does is give Hugo Chavez a big boost, hurts our relationship with Colombia and damages our reputation throughout Latin America.
Posted by andylance1 at 10:35 PM
Your way too funny. As if we had a good reputation down there to begin with.
Yes it is, and in 1929 the Colombian army massacred more than 3000 workers during an strike of the TroCo union. Today the paramilitaries kill union members in Colombia every month. History in Colombia is circular.
It''s about time some of these multi-national corporations received press on this. Coca - Cola, Nike, and more need to be held accountable for this. But people need to know so they can put pressure on these companies as well.
Great job - THANK YOU!
~Mary, Chicago
Again blame it on the people who have been corrupted by centuries of European and US hegemony.
The "language of death" was taught to them as it was the only language spoken in answer to those who resisted colonialism.
Had Chiquita pulled out, perhaps we would have a greater variety of bananas in the US due to varied sources, and there would have been no need to hire mercs to murder the resistance, there would not have been any.
So when you pay, the resistance gets killed, either way, someone will die for your bananas.
Or you can pull out, and get bananas elsewhere.
Eliminate the "NAFTA" agreements and STOP BUYING PRODUCE FROM THE IDIOTS......PERIOD...
I can now see blood dripping from their Bananas in the stores in my minds eye.
Do you now see why Chavez is trying to tell the US and the European Union to remove the FARC from the list of terrorist groups?
Do you have an inlking of what right wing military forces have been doing all across Latin America and not just Colombia?
Do you now understand why people like Chavez and Castro are popular throughout Latin America?
Do you know that when the Spaniards took over Latin America they made it a practice to give huge parcels of lands to few families and make these families the rulers of whatever country they carved out for themselves? And how all you had to do to get hanged by your balls is to ask for better treatment?
Do any of you have a clue as to what happened in Latin America and what''s going on?
Do you even care? Or is it enough for you just to follow whatever the freaking State Department along with the media elite says and to hell with the rest of the world?
"Do any of you have a clue as to what happened in Latin America?"
Yes. It was no different to what happened anywhere else in the Spanish Empire or even in Spain itself.
Anyone suspected of heresy i.e. any non-Catholic, was hauled before the Inquisition and their wrists were tied together behind their backs. They were then suspended by the wrists via a rope and pulley system and yanked up and down. They were not interrogated, but every word they said was recorded by a scribe.
If they confessed their heresy, i.e. confessed to being a Jew, Moslem or Protestant, they were set free if they agreed to convert to Roman Catholicism.
If they did not convert or did not inform the Inquisitors what their religion was, they were condemned to death by burning.
The burning of heretics was the weekend recreational pastime for Spaniards, analogous to our attendance at a ball game. The burnings took place in stadia dedicated for the purpose. Programs, detailing the order of events were sold as was the medieval equivalent of fast food.
The execution by burning of shipwrecked, Protestant, English sailors, led to war between England and Spain.
Regarding the Columbian drug trade, this is a natural outgrowth of prohibition.
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