It appears that way:
Banana company Chiquita Brands International said Wednesday it has agreed to a $25 million fine after admitting it paid a Colombian terrorist group for protection in a volatile farming region.
The settlement resolves a lengthy Justice Department investigation into the company’s financial dealings with terrorist organizations in Colombia.
In court documents filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors said several unnamed high-ranking corporate officers at the Cincinnati-based company paid about $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004 to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC for its Spanish initials.
Not very GOP sounding, unless you know about Chiquita. Chiquita was ran by Carl Lindner until March of 2002 (the time frame that these crimes happened). If you are not from the Cincinnati area then you might not know old Carl, so let me fill you in.
Carl is a huge GOP supporter. If you go to the site Newsmeat and search for Carl Lindner and Carl Linder (some records has his name misspelled), you will get some interesting results. Here is a big one for you:
LINDER, CARL
CINCINNATTI, OH 45243SWIFT BOAT VETS AND POW’S FOR TRUTH
$350,000
primary
10/14/04
Yup some of the same money that went to these terrorist organizations also went to the old Swift Boaters. Very interesting in deed. As matter of fact, Wikipedia has this to say about Carl and Bush’s relationship:
A close ally of George W. Bush, Lindner secured the use of Great American Ballpark for the Bush’s re-election campaign on October 31, 2004, a few days before the 2004 Presidential Election.
Ahh so maybe that explains why the company Carl used to run (and still owns a large part of) received the harsh punishment of a $25 million dollar fine. If this was some blue company like Costco doing this the CEO’s would now be in Gitmo.
Remember – if you want to support terrorism then just give to the GOP. That will make sure you get off easy if you are busted supporting terrorist organizations.