Families sue Chiquita over U.S. deaths in Colombia

MIAMI — The families of six Americans kidnapped and killed in Colombia during the 1990s by the terrorist organization known as FARC are seeking potentially tens of millions of dollars in damages from banana giant Chiquita Brands International because of payments the company made to the group.

Trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection Monday in West Palm Beach federal court in lawsuits that accuse Chiquita of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Chiquita has admitted paying FARC — a Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — about $220,000, but insists it did so only to protect its employees and interests from violence.

The families claim Chiquita’s financial support of FARC, as a known terrorist group, means it should be held responsible for the Americans’ deaths and pay damages.

Chiquita admitted paying $1.7 million to a right-wing group opposed to FARC, eventually pleading guilty in 2007 to a U.S. crime and paying a $25 million fine.

It was only after that case became public that family members of the six Americans slain by FARC learned that Chiquita had also paid FARC, leading to the lawsuits.

Five of the Americans killed by FARC were members of a missionary group based in Sanford, Florida, called New Tribes Mission: David Mankins, Rich Tenenoff, Mark Rich, Stephen Welsh and Timothy Van Dyke. The sixth, Frank Pescatore Jr., was a geologist for an Alabama company.

Tania Julin of Winter Springs, Florida, was married to Rich the night he was kidnapped on Jan. 31, 1993.

She never saw her husband again. “It was so terrifying. I just never imagined. It was so out of the blue and unexpected. I was only 23 years old, with two little kids,” said Julin, who now teaches kindergarten.

“I have never been so afraid in all of my life.”

Later, FARC demanded a $5 million ransom for the three, but it soon became apparent the men had likely been killed, Julin said. It took years for the families to find out for sure, and they never received any remains.

The Associated Press Tania Julin in Winter Springs, Fla. Julin’s husband was kidnapped on Jan. 31, 1993, in the village of Pucuro, Panama, about 15 miles from the Colombian border.