A paramilitary commander has accused US companies which buy Colombia's bananas of financing illegal right-wing militias that have killed thousands of people in more than a decade.
In testimony to investigators, jailed commander Salvatore Mancuso named Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte as having made regular payments to the paramilitaries, according to Jesus Vargas, a lawyer for victims of paramilitary violence who was present at the hearing.
The assertion is that the various companies paid "protection money" to the paramilitaries to be allowed to operate in territories those paramilitary groups controlled. Naturally, the companies involved deny this allegation.
However, lest it seem conceptually far-fetched, consider that within recent history, Chiquita Brands International admitted that it paid paramilitary groups $1.7 million over six years, and has agreed to pay a $25 million fine to the Justice Department.
Chiquita says the payments were made to protect the safety of its workers but Colombia's chief prosecutor has said companies that made such payments shared the responsibility for paramilitary murders.
Labour and human rights activists say Colombia companies and multinationals routinely paid paramilitaries to act as union busters and kill union leaders.
More motivation to buy local and seasonal foods, perhaps.