Chiquita found liable for financing paramilitary group
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/11/business/chiquita-banana-liable-paramilitary-group-colombia/index.htmlOpen linkView original on lemmy.world804
Comments88https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/11/business/chiquita-banana-liable-paramilitary-group-colombia/index.htmlOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
Can we finally agree capitalism doesn’t give a fuck about anything but profits and therefore CANNOT self regulate?
end citizens united -- corporations aren't people
end lobbying so shell oil doesn't have 10000000X time and money to affect the government as a person does.
Quit assigning good/bad labels to companies that operate within the law and furious pursue laws that make us more equal, richer and safer overall
???
profit
Yeah, but how are you going to realistically do that?
I'd love to know. Because I hate citizens united. But what do you propose people do about this?
I don't know -- It feels like we should be able to use the internet to make grass roots new and hard to corrupt political movements but I don't see that happening at all.
There's also the 250 year empire rule which we're at now against stability with the current system.
I honestly have no answer other than a "vote or die" but we all know that doesn't work.
The answer is you vote or we lose democracy. That's the simple end-all be-all answer here.
Biden might not be what every single leftist wants, but I guaranfuckingtee that it won't just be illegal aliens in his camps. It will be you as well.
I personally don't want to live in Gilead. I don't want to fight in a civil war. I'd rather much prefer we vote in Biden, let the Silent/Boomers die off, so we can fix this shit.
I can almost smell the Gen X coming off your grim resignation to boomer die off as a new beginning. We've waited impotently for so long.
Hah, I'm actually a millennial, but it's happening to the tune of 5,500 boomers a day. Even more for the silent gen.
yeah but that just kicks the can down the road, not that I disagree or anything. I don't know of any real solution.
Okay so what's your option then?
Because sitting out wont do anything, and acting like nothing is happening for people is also not doing any good.
I said realistically. That's not realistic at all. It'd be great to have a post scarcity economy. I'd love it. But that's not realistic.
Something Something profits!
Force all companies to be worker-owned cooperatives, Richard Wolff-style.
Also the stock market doesn't really need to exist. It's just gambling with extra steps, and the people who win at that game end up having control over way more than one person should ever have. Also goes along with the above, which is complete worker ownership over companies.
We're ready for suggestions!
Jon Stewart had an excellent monologue about the myth of corporate morality yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWVbZ0WQ3s8
I love how they gave Jon Stewart his show back and he's been using it to burn every single thing he can, including them.
Wait, he's back on the Daily Show?
Yes, but only Mondays. He's been hitting it out of the park though.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=TWVbZ0WQ3s8
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Capitalism does not return the shopping cart.
That's beautiful
😁
I just kinda put together recent adages that make sense together. Sometimes I feel like I think the way most people expect AI does.
I'm the guy who came up with the phrase "if buying isn't owning, pirating isn't stealing."
I might have a thing for putting 2 and 2 together to get 5.
Simplicity is powerful. I've mumbled a few things that turned out to be far more meaningful than I intended.
Not you, though. A Lazer of human consciousness, that's you!
😁
I'm pretty super flattered right now!
I mostly expect people to just not believe me when I claim I coined a viral phrase. I actually keep links to the source and stuff. Credit or none, I'm happy about it every time I see someone say it! I imagine it's how people feel who make open source software and this mentality is what defeats the capitalist notion that nobody would contribute for free.
Dad once told me that money can't buy happiness, but poverty can buy misery. Whatever that's worth.
Good job, yo. And thanks. We need to share our fresh, creative ideas.
If we weren't so fixed on concentrating wealth and hoarding tools and IP, we could pretty well eliminate poverty. More can be made when everyone can access tools to be productive. There's just always the issue of how people won't CARE to nicely maintain things they aren't claiming ownership of. High economy of scale tools like flexographic presses need to be carefully maintained and it's best done with personal interest at stake it seems.
it's not like people would just lie on the internet, is it?
(Mango has an unpleasant history)
Heard, but my experience was positive.
Appreciate you looking out.
isn't that the point? The corruption has tricked us to believing they can regulate themselves or are even not amoral about social issues. Companies make profit -- that is their singular goal. The laws and regulations control their behavior, not 'good will' or whatever we pretend motivates individuals
It's the definition of capitalism
It's money. Every other form of economy has also exploited people for gain.
Money existed before capitalism. Capitalism started in the 1700s. Money far predates capitalism. Plus, my comment is that capitalism must be regulated by outside regulators like governments. Conservatives have pushed deregulation forever and it’s made things worse. Capitalism worked far better in the heavy regulation days after WW2.
Yes, thank you explaining what I said. Mucho appreciato
So we're just supposed to stop coming up with better ideas?
If that's what you want to do, go for it. I didn't say anything like that.
I'm just pointing out it's not capitalism.
In this case, I can believe that Chiquita didn't set out to finance the AUC, but was unfortunate in that their banana plantations fell into AUC-controlled territory, and therefore were extorted for protection money.It's like if I owned an Italian restaurant, the mafia comes in and extorts me for protection money, then the feds come and arrest me for financing the mafia. What was I supposed to do?edit: I didn't know about Chiquita. Thanks for the replies and info!
No, it's like if you owned a massive chain of Italian restaurants that notoriously exploited people, and you were actively paying the mafia to intimidate your workers and to bust unions.
The judge saw through Chiquita's ridiculous fabrication, I'm disappointed to see you parroting it here.
Chiquita / United Fruit have long been involved in oppressing and destabilizing south America for profit.
There is enough proof in the trials to show they were not unhappily contributing to paramilitary groups.
Chiquita has been bad for a long, long time. Even among the banana companies, they're famously evil.
It's a false analogy. Chiquita were paying the paramilitary to do its bidding.
Here is a more in-depth article.
Enjoy your burned out restaurant...edit: I retract my comment due to prior ignorance about Chiquita's corporate behavior.
Name a more iconic pair than bananas and fascist death squads
capitalists and pinkertons... oh wait
Financiers and nutmeg? Wait that’s the same too
*Fascists and nutmeg.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Fascists and nutmeg
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I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Trump and a rolled-up magazine?
Thats implying that trump is like a dog.
Don't say that. I LIKE dogs!
Congratulations, you're one of today's 10,000.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/stormy-daniels-once-claimed-she-spanked-donald-trump-with-a-forbes-magazine/
The fine? $38 million.
Chiquita Brands International's profits in 2023? $3.1 billion.
That's a slap on the wrist if anything. Just the cost of doing business I guess.
To put that into context:
if all you had was a $100 USD Note, the equivalent of that “slap on the wrist” fine would be $1.23
I'll do the math when I get home, but that serms high. Gut instinct I thought it would be more like $0.10.
(38 mill/3.1bil)*100=1.2258 roughly
Again?
Implying they ever stopped.
You can’t think all of those private military contractors get all of their money from Uncle Sam.
Corporations have been using mercenaries for hundreds of years, they’ve just refined their PR departments lately.
We live in a sad world when this kind of thing keeps happening.
.......you new here? And be "here" I mean Earth.
Again?
At this point it's not a surprise, it's when asked to name paramilitary financers, first name that comes up is chiquita.
PEOPLE DIED
PEOPLE NEED TO BE JAILED OVER THIS
Lol. You and I both know that's not gonna happen.
Damn that's crazy. I've never heard of bananas being associated with violence... anytime in the last 120-140 years...
It's where the term "banana republic" comes from.
Okay I'll come clean; I literally chose the range "120-140 years" by looking up the year that term was coined (1904) 😂
And then we made it cute by putting it on clothing. What a twist.
It’s actually a super cute brand name if you just disregard everything about it
That's bananas
Isn't Chiquita the corporate heir to United Fruit?
yes
Is this an article from 70 years ago?
For Colombians who suffered at the hand of the guerrilla-paramilitary conflict, it was not 70 years ago.
The paramilitary group mentioned in the article, AUC, disbanded around 2006-2008.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Again?
Exactly my response!!
As someone who hates both bananas and corporations financing death squads, I consider this a win.
You leave the bananas out of this! They're a victim!
They're disgusting radioactive fruit that everyone insists on putting in smoothies.
They're delicious fruit packed with potassium that help make smoothies creamier.
I do not dispute any of that but the 'delicious' part.
Then I respect your opinion, no matter how wrong it may be.
Again?!
Who's going to post that 2 nickels meme?
War is a racket.
Eh same old same old... Wait they're getting "punished" this time? Well that's new I guess.
Over bananas boys. Bananas.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Florida jury on Monday found banana company Chiquita Brands International liable for financing the Colombian paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).
The jury in the civil case, in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, found that “Chiquita knowingly provided substantial assistance to the AUC to a degree sufficient to create a foreseeable risk of harm to others.”
Chiquita, one of the world’s largest banana producers, has been ordered to pay a total of $38.3 million to the families of eight victims of the AUC, which was a far-right paramilitary group that was designated a terrorist organization by the US.
In 2007, Chiquita pleaded guilty to making over 100 payments to the AUC totaling over $1.7 million despite the group being designated a terrorist organization.
An unnamed company executive had told the Justice Department that the payments had been made under the threat of violence, according to the release.
In a social media post, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, reacted to the American jury’s Tuesday decision and asked why the same ruling was not made in his home country.
The original article contains 414 words, the summary contains 181 words. Saved 56%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Guess Dole got soul
I had a guy tell me the US doesn't meddle in Central or South America anymore. 🤔
How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?
That's bananas!