Chiquita sued for missionary deaths
MIAMI, March 13 (UPI) — Family members of missionaries killed in Colombia have filed a lawsuit against Chiquita Brands International Inc. for allegedly paying off leftist rebels.
The lawsuit claims that Chiquita supplied the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, with payments and weaponry in return for guarantees of safety of Chiquita employees in Colombia.
The rebels were blamed for the deaths of the missionaries killed during the 1990s, read the lawsuit filed in a Miami district court, The Miami Herald reported Thursday.
In June, Chiquita agreed to pay a $25 million fine for paying a right-wing paramilitary group $1.7 million to protect its employees from 1997 to 2004.
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