Colombians seek extradition of U.S. banana executives who supported death squads

Outraged Colombians called Friday for the United States to extradite American banana executives after the Cincinnati-based fruit giant Chiquita acknowledged making monthly protection payments for six years to illegal groups that killed thousands of people.

The chief federal prosecutor's office said it would ask the U.S. Justice Department for information on Chiquita's role in smuggling 3,000 assault rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to far-right paramilitaries in the region where the company got its bananas.

Chiquita settled a U.S. Justice Department probe by agreeing Wednesday to pay a $25 million (€18.76 million) fine and acknowledging that its wholly owned subsidiary Banadex paid US$1.7 million (€1.35 million) to far-right paramilitaries labeled terrorists by the United States. Chiquita also admitted funding Colombia's two main leftist rebel groups, but the U.S. complaint offered no information about how much it paid them.
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