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Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

bbc.com

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Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#61

Post by Obeehhh »

digging wrote: post #58
dventimi wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Paramilitary organizations have very close ties with the far-right politicians here." Does that make it more likely those paramilitary organizations are on the left, or on the right?

I think they're implying that anti-leftist isn't the same as far-right. A centrist could in theory function as an anti-leftist.

Yeah, but also anti-comunist propaganda from the cold war is still prominent, so when they say anti-leftist it feels like a justification. I'm sorry this is not my main language.

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#62

Post by digging »

anigbrowl wrote: post #43
evulhotdog wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it’s not nearly as much as it should be, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Incrementalism normalizes dystopia, in my view; this becomes just another contingency that can be budgeted for. Imagine, by contrast, the impact that executing one Chiquita executive would have.

I agree with wanting stronger action, but incremental change isn't incompatible with revolutionary vision. We can say, "Yes, this is a good move, and I still want the other 99% of the work done." It is likely that at some point we'd have to move faster than 1% at a time, but it's easier to get up to speed when you're already moving vs standing still.

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#63

Post by chmod775 »

njovin wrote: post #26

They have been fined $38m for killing 8 people, which amounts to a tad over 1% of their 2023 revenue. I'm very happy that an example is being made of them to warn other corporations that committing murder to protect your profits may cause a slight dip in your next earnings report.

> They have been fined $38m

This is damages, not a fine.

> for killing 8 people

If this verdict stands, you can bet there will be more lawsuits coming.

> which amounts to a tad over 1% of their 2023 revenue

There's income statements available for some years. Their margins are tiny - usually profits are 10% of their revenue or less. Sometimes much less or none.

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#64

Post by caycep »

dventimi wrote: post #47

Through at least two administrations, Republican and Democrat, Bush and Obama, the U.S. has funded anti-leftist militarism in Colombia, to the military and to paramilitary groups like AUC. It's not just a fruit company and it's not just a relic from the past. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2013/12/21/co...

last 2? weren't they toppling latin American governments since Teddy Roosevelt?

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#65

Post by digging »

dventimi wrote: post #59
digging wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're implying that anti-leftist isn't the same as far-right. A centrist could in theory function as an anti-leftist.

Are there anti-leftist militarists in Colombia who are centrist?

I have no idea.

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#66

Post by digging »

Obeehhh wrote: post #61
digging wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're implying that anti-leftist isn't the same as far-right. A centrist could in theory function as an anti-leftist.

Yeah, but also anti-comunist propaganda from the cold war is still prominent, so when they say anti-leftist it feels like a justification. I'm sorry this is not my main language.

It's fair to call that out. Anti-communist propaganda is a problem still in the US as well.

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#67

Post by lazide »

Obeehhh wrote: post #52
xray2 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Also calling it anti-leftist is just poor framing, paramilitar organizations have very close ties with the right-wing politicians here.

Uh, aren’t the paramilitaries explicitly targeting leftists? As in ‘let’s go out and murder some of those leftists’?

What else could you call anti-leftist but that?

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#68

Post by lazide »

buildsjets wrote: post #44

My family home is built on the former estate of Minor Cooper Keith, a founder and former VP of United Fruit, who did many similar horrible things to people in Central and South America. I learned this while researching the name of the waterway behind our house, called "Keith Canal". You can see the history of the development in historic maps from 1829 thru 1976. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Cooper_Keith https:…

[flagged]

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#69

Post by lazide »

slantedview wrote: post #40
rflrob wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the Guatemalan coup that was heavily lobbied for by the United Fruit Company. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d%2527%...

"The United Fruit Company (UFC), whose highly profitable business had been affected by the softening of exploitative labor practices in Guatemala, engaged in an influential lobbying campaign to persuade the U.S. to overthrow the Guatemalan government." It's amazing how decades later, they heirs of United Fruit Company are still using violence as a tool for increasing profit. This is what happens when individuals are…

Who prosecutes, when the ones who have jurisdiction are the ones overthrowing gov’ts for ‘the bad guys’?

Re: Banana giant Chiquita held liable by US court for funding paramilitaries

#70

Post by [deleted] »

evulhotdog wrote: post #39
njovin wrote: post #26

They have been fined $38m for killing 8 people, which amounts to a tad over 1% of their 2023 revenue. I'm very happy that an example is being made of them to warn other corporations that committing murder to protect your profits may cause a slight dip in your next earnings report.

Of course it’s not nearly as much as it should be, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

[deleted]
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