When Chiquita Brands International pleaded guilty last year to violating anti-terrorism laws—and was fined $25 million for its payments to Colombian terrorists—Tania Julin and Nancy Hamm felt betrayed and angry.

Though Chiquita's plea did not involve the group that murdered their husbands 12 years ago, the women learned through the case that Chiquita had also paid protection money to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

"I believe they need to be held accountable," said Hamm, who retired from New Tribes Mission (NTM) last year. "This affected us in a horrible way, but I think it could affect a lot of other Americans, too, if Chiquita or other American companies continue to blatantly fund terrorists."

Julin, Hamm, and three other widows are among the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed March 11. The suit alleges Chiquita is culpable in the deaths of their husbands, all of whom were NTM missionaries. FARC kidnapped and later killed the men in a pair of 1993–94 incidents in Columbia and Panama.

According to the suit, the Cincinnati-based company provided money, weapons, and other support to FARC. The suit asks that compensation be determined through a jury trial.

Sanford, Florida–based NTM, which is also a plaintiff in the case, pulled some personnel out of Latin America after the kidnappings. Spokesperson Nita Zelenak said NTM prefers not to specify exact locations of its 3,200 missionaries, who serve in more than 18 nations. But if any are seized, she said, NTM—like many other mission agencies—maintains a "no ransom" policy, because it provides a safeguard against more personnel being taken.

"We're always looking at the safety issue, and as the climate changes, we have to change with it," Zelenak said. "We're definitely careful to let missionaries know of the potential dangers."

Chiquita has defended its actions as the cost of doing business and protecting its employees in Colombia. Spokesman Ed Loyd said terrorists murdered 30 of its people in the 1990s.

"This wasn't a philosophical threat," Loyd said. "This was a situation where a large number of our employees were killed. Thirty is what I'm aware of, but frankly there may be others."

Nor did Chiquita try to hide its actions, Loyd said. After becoming aware of a change in federal law in 2001, he said Chiquita notified the U.S. Department of Justice about its payments. That sparked a four-year-long investigation, which culminated in the company's guilty plea last year.

Despite that plea, Loyd said the plaintiffs face a high standard of proof. They must demonstrate Chiquita's conduct actually caused the deaths, he said—something he doesn't think the former missionaries will be able to do.

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The status of the court case is unclear. At least half a dozen lawsuits filed against Chiquita by Columbian victims of terrorism have been combined for further action, but the missionaries' suit isn't among them.

Regardless of the outcome, Mercer University ethics professor David Gushee said the case should give pause to both sides. As they examine the consequences of forays into remote regions, he said, corporate leaders would be wise to ask what potential harm could result and what non-business values are at stake.

"The more economic pressure that a corporation feels they are facing, the more likely they will be to cut moral corners," said Gushee.

However, Gushee also said that missions agencies need to clearly communicate risks to their personnel.

While Julin said none of the widows are bitter about the dangers that ultimately ended their husbands' lives, she does hope that winning the lawsuit will pose a warning to companies tempted to do business with terrorists.

"Chiquita had a choice whether to deal with the terrorists or not. If they felt they had to deal with the terrorists or not be in Colombia at all, they could have chosen not to be in Colombia," Julin said. "They chose to work with these terrorists."



Related Elsewhere:

Other news coverage includes:

All Chiquita lawsuits in Colombia slayings shift to West Palm | Claims that Chiquita Brands International is responsible for the murders of hundreds of Colombian residents and a group of American missionaries working in the war-torn country are to play out in a West Palm Beach courtroom (Palm Beach Post, Apr. 29)
Families Sue Chiquita in Deaths of 5 Men (The New York Times, Mar. 17, also in International Herald Tribune)
Chiquita Faces Wrongful Death Suits for Payments to Terror Group (Dan Slater, WSJ Law Blog, Mar. 12)
Chiquita sued by relatives of five slain missionaries (The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 12)

Earlier Christianity Today articles on NTM, Colombia missionaries, and payments to terrorist organizations include:

Did Martin Die Needlessly? | Gracia Burnham believes her husband would be alive today if someone had paid the proper ransom—but mission agencies wonder how many other missionaries would have been kidnapped as a result. (June 2003)
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Missions Evaluate New U.S. Kidnapping Policy | Does Washington understand the reason for no-ransom positions? (May 1, 2002)
Why the FARC Hates Evangelicals | The terrorist group has many misconceptions about Colombian Christians. (February 2004)
Missionaries Defy Terrorist Threat in Colombia | U.S. Embassy says North Americans are guerrilla targets (May 21, 2002)
Missionaries May Be Target Of FARC Guerrillas | U.S. embassy in Colombia issues warning to missionaries and churches. (March 2002)
New Tribes Missionaries Kidnapped in 1993 Declared Dead | Mission concludes Colombian guerrillas shot the three men in 1996 (Sept. 2001)
Colombian Guerilla Offers No Clues to Missionaries' Fate | FBI says that Medina has no information on kidnapped New Tribes missionaries. (Feb. 23, 2001)
Break in Missionary Kidnapping Case | Captured Colombian guerilla may hold key to U.S. missionaries' fate. (Dec. 4, 2000)
Plan for Peace in Colombia Is a Plan 'For Death,' Say Church Activists | Will U.S. military assistance in destroying coca fields only increase violence? (Aug. 15, 2000)
Death in the Night | Colombia's pastors endure extortion, kidnappings, and threats as they plant churches and help the poor in a war zone. (June 6, 2000)
Fate of Kidnapped Missionaries Still Unresolved | Colombia remains thought to end questions are not human after all. (Mar. 29, 2000)
Twenty-five Pastors Killed This Year (Oct. 4, 1999)
Christians Held As Hostages (July 12, 1999)
Colombia's Bleeding Church | Despite the murders of 120 church leaders, Christians are fighting for peace in one of the world's most violent nations. (May 18, 1998)

Today's Christian, a Christianity Today sister publication, noted the 10-year anniversary of the Colombian kidnappings.

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