Protecting an American

Colombia blasts U.S. for judicial injustice on Chiquita issue

Thursday, September 13, 2007

BOGOTA, (Xinhua) -- Colombian Interior Minister Carlos Holguin blasted the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday for protecting an American banana giant illegally involved with the rebel group -- the Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).

Holguin responded one day after the U.S. Justice Department said it would not prosecute ten Chiquita Brands International executives involved in an illegal deal with the AUC and urged Colombia to settle the issue by a fine of 25million U.S. dollars.

The U.S. proposal runs counter to judicial justice as it aims to replace the legal punishment with a small sum of money, Holguin said.

The minister expressed shock at the idea that the Chiquita executives would be free from any legal punishments for cooperating with the AUC, which the U.S. government designated as a terrorist group in September 2001.

Chiquita, one of the world's largest banana producers, pleaded guilty early this year to paying the AUC about 1.7 million dollars for safety assurance of its Uraba and Santa Marta properties between 1997 and 2004.

The company also admitted having paid money to other Colombian paramilitaries, including the National Liberation Army known as ELN and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.