On April 24, 2003, a board member of Chiquita International Brands disclosed to a top official at the Justice Department that the king of the banana trade was evidently breaking the nation's anti-terrorism laws.
Roderick M. Hills, who had sought the meeting with former law firm colleague Michael Chertoff, explained that Chiquita was paying "protection money" to a Colombian paramilitary group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations. Hills said he knew that such payments were illegal, according to sources and court records, but said that he needed Chertoff's advice...
Chertoff promised to get back to them, but never did. There's more from the WSJ here, and note that Hills is deeply connected: the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, he and Chertoff worked together at Latham & Watkins, and his wife, Carla Hills, was the lead negotiator of NAFTA and is involved in North American "integration" (cfr.org/bios/3373/carla_a_hills.html).
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