Chiquita Banana

In this article, families of victims of a Columbian paramilitary group are suing Chiquita Brands International. A subsidiary of the company, Banadex paid millions of dollars to a group responsible for some of Columbia's worst massacres. The company claims that the payments were necessary in order to protect their workers and property from the group's death squads. Families of 387 victims, however, say the company went so far as to ship rifles to the organization.
One of the recurring topics in this class is the difficulties in establishing a stable government in region where revolutions and coups often take the place of political processes. Foreign companies cannot conduct business without adequate security, but only perpetuate the violence by funding terrorist groups with "protection payments."