A decade-old case alleging that Chiquita Brand International financed Colombian death squads will move forward in U.S. courts after a federal judge on Tuesday rejected the company’s argument that lawsuits filed against it by thousands of victims of Colombia’s violent paramilitary groups should be heard in Colombia.
The victims claim that Chiquita paid at least $1.6 million in protection money over several years ending in 2004 to violent right-wing paramilitary groups that tortured, kidnapped and killed their relatives.
