This article on Chiquita International Brands Chiquita Brands International reported that the Organization of American States had said in a 2003 report that Chiquita had participated in smuggling arms for paramilitary groups into the Northern Uraba region of Colombia. The OAS report said the shipping company Banadex S.A. ¿ at the time a wholly owned subsidiary of Chiquita ¿ had unloaded cargo that contained illegally smuggled weapons at the request of a shipping agent, but the report did not say that Banadex knew that arms were in the containers.
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In Terrorism-Law Case, Chiquita Points to U.S.
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After Chiquita officials got no answer from Chertoff, they met with Thompson, who praised them for "doing the right thing" in disclosing the payments, and said he, too, would try to get back to them on how to proceed, defense sources said. Thompson, now general counsel for PepsiCo, did not respond yesterday to a request to comment.
Hills's lawyer, Reid H. Weingarten, said his client alerted the government to a problem, then waited as the government asked to see what the administration wanted to do. Hills resigned from the board in June.
"As soon as Rod Hills learned that there were payments to a terrorist organization, he brought the matter immediately to the attention of the Justice Department," Weingarten said. "He had a reasonable basis to believe that the Justice Department wanted to maintain the status quo while they sorted out the difficult issues."
Robert S. Litt, an attorney for Olson, declined to elaborate on the case but said: "Bob Olson acted properly in helping Chiquita deal with a very difficult situation, and I'm confident that the Department of Justice will agree."
The attorney general of Colombia, Mario Iguaran, and other Colombian officials have dismissed Chiquita's assertions that it was a victim of extortion and paid AUC to protect its workers. An Organization of American States report in 2003 said that Chiquita participated in smuggling thousands of arms for paramilitaries into the Northern Uraba region, using docks operated by the company to unload thousands of Central American assault rifles and ammunition.
Iguaran, whose office has been investigating Chiquita's operations, said the company knew AUC was using payoffs and arms to fund operations against peasants, union workers and rivals. At the time of the payments, AUC was growing into a powerful army and was expanding across much of Colombia and, according to the Colombian government, its soldiers killed thousands before it began demobilizing.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who must decide whether to accept the Chiquita corporation's plea agreement, privately warned both sides last month that he wants to know more about the role played by Chiquita executives in approving the payments, according to sources familiar with his remarks, made in a closed meeting in his chambers.
Lamberth specifically said he wanted to know which company officials made the key decisions and whether they would face prosecution. A hearing on the plea agreement is scheduled for Monday.
Staff writer Spencer S. Hsu and correspondent Juan Forero contributed to this report.
