Chiquita must pay $38.3 million to the families of Colombian men killed by paramilitary groups, a Florida jury says

BOGOTA — Chiquita Brands International must pay $38.3 million in damages to the families of eight Colombian men killed by a paramilitary group in Colombia, a Florida jury ruled Monday.

In 2007, Chiquita was ordered by a U.S. court to pay a fine of $25 million to settle charges that the company had done business with the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).

In this case, Chiquita pleaded guilty to paying protection money from 2001 to 2004 to protect workers.

“Chiquita intends to appeal the jury’s verdict,” the company said in a statement. “The situation in Colombia has been tragic for so many, including those directly affected by the violence there, and our thoughts are with them and their families. However, this does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for these claims. While we are disappointed by the decision, we remain confident that our legal position will ultimately prevail.”

In its verdict Monday, the jury in the civil case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said Chiquita knowingly provided substantial assistance to AUC in the form of cash payments or other support, to an extent that created a foreseeable risk of harm.

The men were killed by the AUC, the jury said, and Chiquita had not proven that its support for the AUC was due to harm to the company or its employees.

“The verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed, but it sets things right and puts responsibility for financing terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita’s doorstep,” Agnieszka Fryszman, an attorney at the law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement.