Blood Bananas, Page 1 of 8
Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia
Matthew S. Urdan
MG 600: Business Ethics and Legal Environment
Professor Margaret Goralski
April 13, 2014
Blood Bananas, Page 2 of 8
Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia
1. What do you think were the root causes for Chiquita’s actions in Colombia that
ultimately led to their conviction?
There are two very different root causes for Chiquita’s actions in Colombia that ultimately led to
their conviction. The first root cause consists of the convoluted series of events in the company’s
history that reflected the morally questionable realities of business operations in lesser-developed
countries, and the second root cause was the conscious choice to no longer be a producer of
bananas, but rather instead to become a purchaser and distributor of bananas.
From the beginning, the United Fruit Company was involved politically in the governments of
the countries it operated in and greatly influenced those governments and the lives of its
employees. Heavy handed tactics prevented local competitors from entering the banana
business. Additionally, not only did the United Fruit Company control the lands, the market, the
lives of its employees and strong-armed the local governments to build or not to build
infrastructure for the company’s benefit in terms of its control of banana land distribution and
transportation networks; there was a great conflict of interest between United Fruit’s officers and
board members with their connections within the United States government that gave United
Fruit an in to promote military action in Latin America and undue corporate influence on U.S.
foreign policy to promote interests and action that were favorable to the company. I would argue
these interest conflicts and business practices created a moral deficit within Chiquita’s
predecessor company that allowed Chiquita to continue to operate and make business decisions
