Cyrus Freidheim Jr.
Photo by Rich Hein
Former Chiquita C.E.O.
When Freidheim took over in 2002, Chiquita had been paying the A.U.C. for five years. The company continued paying throughout his short tenure. Freidheim’s successor, Fernando Aguirre, stopped the payments in February 2004.
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Roderick Hills
Photo by Chris Kleponis
Former Chiquita director
As S.E.C. chairman, Hills encouraged companies to come clean when they discovered wrongdoing. But as a member of Chiquita’s board, he was involved in the decision to continue making the illegal payments.
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Robert Olson
Former Chiquita general counsel
As the company’s legal steward, Olson understood Chiquita’s catch-22, but he sided with Hills and Freidheim against the Justice Department. The three men concurred, “Just let them sue us.”
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Carlos Castaño
Former A.U.C. commander
Castaño (now deceased) led the right-wing death squads that coerced Chiquita into funding his fight against Colombia’s Marxist rebels. In 2001, his group received guns smuggled through Banadex’s port.
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Michael Chertoff
Photo by G. Fabiano
Former head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division
Chertoff, who later became secretary of Homeland Security, told Hills that Chiquita’s payments were illegal and promised to look into the matter further. According to Chiquita, Chertoff never got back to the company.
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Richard Thornburgh
Photo by Mark Leighton
Attorney for Chiquita’s audit committee
A former U.S. attorney general and Pennsylvania governor, Thornburgh told the Justice Department that prosecuting the company could harm U.S.-Colombian relations.
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