A federal Jury in Florida [3] found Chiquita Brands, the fruit giant responsible most notably for bananas (and once called United Fruit), liable for killings by a Colombian right-wing paramilitary group who killed thousands of people between 1997 and 2004. Even after the group was designated a terror organization by the US, Chiquita continued pouring millions of dollars into the group.

Chiquita claimed that it paid the group, known as AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia), under duress in order to protect their banana-growing operations amidst the Colombian civil war.

The company must now pay $38.3 million in damages to the families of eight men who were killed by AUC. This civil case follows payment of $25 million dollars Chiquita Brands paid to settle federal criminal charges brought by the Justice Department. The federal admission called for relatives of those killed by AUC forces to file civil cases as well - more than 500,000 cases have been filed - this case is the first win.

This was the first of two bellwether cases, where each trial was to be composed of 10 claims out of the aforementioned 500,000 - but this case’s outcome is likely to speed up the verdict in the following case.

The company has faced a long and troubling history in Latin America, lasting over 100 years and linked to the coups in Honduras, Guatemala, and other countries, as well as massacres and violence. Not much has changed for Banana Republics in this time - but now it seems there may be a future of some compensation.