Chiquita Brands International is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against the company in the U.S. by Colombians whose relatives were killed in Colombia's bloody civil war. Chiquita has admitted paying a right-wing Colombian paramilitary group $1.7 million over a seven-year period, but denies ties to the violence alleged in the lawsuits. Chiquita's lawyers say:
"[The Colombians] do not allege a single fact that links Chiquita to any of the acts of violence at issue, much less that suggest Chiquita wanted the violence to happen."
