Banana Giant Chiquita Paid Terrorist Group for Security.

After an inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department, Chiquita pled guilty to funding terrorists in Colombia, but they have not compensated families whose loved ones were murdered by the terrorists they bankrolled. In 2007 we filed a class action lawsuit accusing Chiquita of financing torture, war crimes, and other human rights abuses. Chiquita made regular monthly payments, totaling more than $1.7 million, to security forces controlled by the United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia, or AUC, a brutal paramilitary organization known for mass killing and designated by the United States Government as a terrorist organization. That designation made supporting the AUC a federal crime. We are currently proceeding toward trial against Chiquita and several of its former executives, scheduled to start in October 2019.