Chiquita Hit with $38.3 million Judgment

 By John R. Byrne

There's now a jury verdict in a case that's been hanging around for years. In a trial up in West Palm, a jury found that Chiquita knowingly funded a Colombian paramilitary group called Autodefensas Unitas de Colombia, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States. The lawsuit was brought by the families of eight Colombian men killed by the AUC. Chiquita had claimed that the AUC effectively extorted payments from Chiquita to protect Chiquita's workers. CNN covers it here.