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AG Eric Holder & Chiquita, Covington, Negroponte, Bolton, Colombian Death Squads

Alex Constantine - August 6, 2009

(Reposted)

us attorney general eric gun ban holder1 - AG Eric Holder & Chiquita, Covington, Negroponte, Bolton, Colombian Death SquadsThe Holder-Chiquita Connection
http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff07172009.html

... Given Chiquita’s underhanded record in Central America and Colombia it’s not a surprise that the company later sought to ally itself with COHEP in Honduras. In addition to lobbying business associations in Honduras however Chiquita also cultivated relationships with high powered law firms in Washington. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Chiquita has paid out $70,000 in lobbying fees to Covington and Burling over the past three years.

Covington is a powerful law firm which advises multinational corporations. Eric Holder, the current Attorney General, a co-chair of the Obama campaign and former Deputy Attorney General under Bill Clinton, was up until recently a partner at the firm. At Covington, Holder defended Chiquita as lead counsel in its case with the Justice Department. From his perch at the elegant new Covington headquarters located near the New York Times building in Manhattan, Holder prepped Fernando Aguirre, Chiquita’s CEO, for an interview with 60 Minutes dealing with Colombian death squads.

Holder had the fruit company plead guilty to one count of “engaging in transactions with a specially designated global terrorist organization.” But the lawyer, who was taking in a hefty salary at Covington to the tune of more than $2 million, brokered a sweetheart deal in which Chiquita only paid a $25 million fine over five years. Outrageously however, not one of the six company officials who approved the payments received any jail time.

The Curious Case of Covington

Look a little deeper and you’ll find that not only does Covington represent Chiquita but also serves as a kind of nexus for the political right intent on pushing a hawkish foreign policy in Latin America. Covington has pursued an important strategic alliance with Kissinger (of Chile, 1973 fame) and McLarty Associates (yes, the same Mack McLarty from Clinton-time), a well known international consulting and strategic advisory firm.

From 1974 to 1981 John Bolton served as an associate at Covington. As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under George Bush, Bolton was a fierce critic of leftists in Latin America such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. Furthermore, just recently John Negroponte became Covington’s Vice Chairman. Negroponte is a former Deputy Secretary of State, Director of National Intelligence and U.S. Representative to the United Nations.

As U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1981-1985, Negroponte played a significant role in assisting the U.S.-backed Contra rebels intent on overthrowing the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Human rights groups have criticized Negroponte for ignoring human rights abuses committed by Honduran death squads which were funded and partially trained by the Central Intelligence Agency. Indeed, when Negroponte served as ambassador his building in Tegucigalpa became one of the largest nerve centers of the CIA in Latin America with a tenfold increase in personnel.

While there’s no evidence linking Chiquita to the recent coup in Honduras, there’s enough of a confluence of suspicious characters and political heavyweights here to warrant further investigation. From COHEP to Covington to Holder to Negroponte to McLarty, Chiquita has sought out friends in high places, friends who had no love for the progressive labor policies of the Zelaya regime in Tegucigalpa. ...

http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff07172009.html
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"Eventually, though, with Holder’s assistance Chiquita and the Justice Department came to an agreement in which the fruit company would pay a $25 million fine - the price of the company’s sale of Banadex, its Colombian subsidiary - for having made payments to a foreign terrorist organization. The fine’s proceeds went to the U.S. Treasury. ... "

http://www.cipcol.org/?p=703
Dec 02

Eric Holder and Chiquita

chaquita - AG Eric Holder & Chiquita, Covington, Negroponte, Bolton, Colombian Death SquadsAfter President-Elect Obama revealed that Eric Holder would be his choice for attorney-general, several observers raised questions about the nominee’s role as a private lawyer defending Chiquita Brands, the U.S. fruit company. Holder helped Chiquita negotiate a plea agreement with the Justice Department for the years of payoffs that the company made to paramilitary groups in a part of Colombia where the right-wing militias massacred hundreds, perhaps thousands, of civilians.

Hofstra University’s Mario Murillo, writing for CounterPunch: “not one Chiquita official involved in the illegal transactions was forced to serve time for a crime that others have paid dearly for, mainly because they did not have the kind of legal backing that Holder’s team provided. … If the Obama Administration is seriously concerned about impunity and human rights in Colombia, Holder should probably step out of the way immediately.”

Dan Kovalik of the U.S. Steelworkers’ Union, writing in the Huffington Post: “Eric Holder would have a troubling conflict of interest in carrying out this work in light of his current work as defense lawyer for Chiquita Brands international. … Holder himself, using his influence as former deputy attorney general under the Clinton Administration, helped to negotiate Chiquita’s sweeheart deal with the Justice Department in the criminal case against Chiquita.”

Jason Glaser, writing in the Guardian: “Does Holder represent the change we need and the change we were promised? It is time that someone who chooses to represent and serve human beings over corporations holds the position of attorney general.”

The story here is that after the Clinton administration drew to a close Holder, a former Clinton assistant attorney-general, went into private practice at the Covington and Burling law firm, where his clients included Chiquita. In 2003, Holder led the legal team that advised the fruit company to admit to the U.S. Justice Department that it had been making payments to the murderous United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) since 1997 - a relationship that started out as “protection” money but went on way too long. The payments, which finally stopped in 2004, totaled about US$1.7 million to a group that, as of September 10, 2001, was on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Oddly, as the Washington Post has reported, despite the terrorism link Holder and Chiquita at first had difficulty even getting a response out of Assistant Attorney-General Michael Chertoff, who would later go on to be the Bush administration’s Homeland Security secretary.

Eventually, though, with Holder’s assistance Chiquita and the Justice Department came to an agreement in which the fruit company would pay a $25 million fine - the price of the company’s sale of Banadex, its Colombian subsidiary - for having made payments to a foreign terrorist organization. The fine’s proceeds went to the U.S. Treasury.

There is a widespread perception that Chiquita’s punishment was quite lenient given the link with a terrorist group responsible for mass murder. Notably, the Justice Department indictment makes no mention of a potentially more serious charge, documented in a 2003 OAS investigation: that Chiquita’s Colombian subsidiary helped run weapons and ammunition from Nicaragua to the AUC.

How can we characterize the attorney-general-designate’s role? On one hand, Holder’s actions were commendable. Upon discovering that his client had broken the law, he advised it to go to the U.S. authorities. Notably, no other fruit company operating in northwestern Colombia’s conflictive Urabá region - and there are several - has come forward to admit to paying off armed groups. (It seems absurd that Chiquita would be the only one, and indeed demobilizing paramilitary leaders - including Salvatore Mancuso in a May 2008 60 Minutes interview - have alleged that they took payments from other companies in Urabá.)

Writing for Salon, Glenn Greenwald meanwhile makes the point that Holder should not be criticized for defending for a client, since all accused people have the right to defense counsel.

Attempts to criticize a lawyer for representing unsavory or even evil clients are inherently illegitimate and wrong — period. Anybody who believes in core liberties should want even the most culpable parties to have zealous representation before the Government can impose punishments or other sanctions. Lawyers who defend even the worst parties are performing a vital service for our justice system. Holder is no more tainted by his defense of Chiquita than lawyers who defend accused terrorists at Guantanamo are tainted by that.

This is true, and Holder’s defense of Chiquita should not disqualify him from serving as the Obama administration’s attorney-general.

Nonetheless, there are questions about Holder’s role that the Senate Judiciary Committee should explore before deciding on his nomination.

•Did Holder benefit from his contacts with former colleagues at the Justice Department in a way that allowed him to achieve a more lenient plea agreement than would have been possible for a less well-connected attorney?

•What role has Holder played in defending Chiquita from a class-action lawsuit filed in 2007 by 173 victims of paramilitary violence in the Urabá region? Has he advised his client to refuse any and all demands for restitution or reparations to victims? If so, how did he justify this position?

•In general, does Holder personally believe that U.S. corporations that do direct or indirect harm to citizens of a foreign country need not be held accountable to those citizens?

It will be difficult to get a definitive answer to any of these questions, and in fact the answer to all of them may be “no.”

Still, the U.S. Justice Department is likely to be dealing with Colombian paramilitary groups in several contexts, including possible future actions against U.S. corporations that may have aided them, and of course the criminal cases against fifteen extradited paramilitary leaders in U.S. custody since May of this year.

In private practice, Holder sought to downplay the severity of his client’s funding of Colombia’s paramilitaries and perhaps sought to prevent or minimize reparations to victims. As attorney-general, however, Holder can do great harm to U.S. credibility in Colombia and Latin America if he is perceived to be throwing obstacles in the way of the paramilitaries’ victims’ rights to truth and reparations. Because of his past work with Chiquita, his Justice Department’s actions with regard to future paramilitary cases will deserve extremely close scrutiny.

http://www.cipcol.org/?p=703

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  1. In 1953, the American CIA, acting as whores for British Petroleum, kidnapped Mossadeq, a democratically-elected, leader of the Iranian People. Teddy Roosevelt’s nephew, “Kermit”, led the CIA-orchestrated kidnapping and coup, “Operation Ajax”. The phony war in Iraq is an intentional lie to defund the Euro. The Euro, when Cowboy George and male bathroom attendant Tony Blair cooked-up the intentional Iraq LIE, was trading evenly with the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve” currencys (bonds, bills and notes). Iran, at the time of the Iraq LIE, was promising a “Bourse” for their oil. The “Bourse” was advertised as a direct confrontation to the criminal parasites in the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve”. Iran was advertising they would sell their oil to any country that used Euros instead of the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve” currencys (bonds, bills and notes). Read the “Chilcot Report”. It demonstrates the Iraq LIE as what is: an intentional deceit. The time is fast approaching the “Brexit” will be used to topple the already-hopelessly-rigged, “Stock Market” and the English Pound, now-depleted, will rise again to confound the truth and torment Humanity ad infinitum. Sinc3e Bretton Woods, in 1942, the ONLY thing the lying criminals in the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve” have exported, is WHAT IS PERCEIVED TO BE: American Debt. It isn’t. Instead, it is counterfeit US Debt created by criminal imposters to the well-being of US Finances in the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve” system. The banks and their COUNTERFEITING US CURRENCY AND SECURITIES, HAVE DESTROYED THEMSELVES, NOT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. WHEN THE TIME COMES, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MUST ICELAND THESE CRIMINAL FILTH INTO OBLIVION FOR NOW AND FOREVER MORE.

  2. James Comey created the original Treason in 2005 when he covered for KPMG.

    KPMG was allowing their client banks to launder terror and drug cartel money for known enemies of the US – Iran as an example.

    George Osborne (the former English Finance Minister) resurrected Comey’s Treason in September 2012, in Brooklyn.

    Brooklyn was selected because Loretta Lynch was the Prosecutor there, at that time.

    Loretta Lynch went on to become Eric Holder’s replacement, as Attorney General of the US.

    The Treason was coordinated by Eric Holder and George Osborne, booked under Loretta Lynch in September and signed under Loretta Lynch in December.

    Three months after this TREASON, THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF AMERICAN AND BRITISH SOLDIERS, JAMES COMEY WAS PLACED, AS AN EXECUTIVE WITH THE BANK RESPONSIBLE.

    Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation- a British-Chinese hybrid – HSBC.

    http://www.hangthebankers.com/whistleblower-hsbc-still-laundering-money-for-terrorists-drug-cartels/

    The Treason was signed in December 2012 and James Comey elected to betray the American military and Coalition Forces, in March 2013, three months later, when he was placed, by his masters, with HSBC bank.

    The Treason is designed and has been used, since September 2012, to conceal HSBC as a terror and drug laundry.

    HSBC Bank launders and has been laundering terror and drug cartel money for known enemies of the US.

    Those known enemies use counterfeit US funds to murder American and British Coalition Forces.

    The counterfeiting is a direct result of the MERS as it is a deliberate “Pretender” to over 1200 Trillions in counterfeit US dollars and counterfeit US securities.

    The MERS was created by Eric Holder’s Law Firm, Covington Burling.

    Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer avoided prosecution of criminal bankers for eight Obama years- they are now back, working for Covington Burling.

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/eric-holder-wall-street-double-agent-comes-in-from-the-cold-20150708

    Since Comey’s original Treason in 2005, over 1384 Coalition forces have been killed in Afghanistan alone.

    The weapons used are IEDs and EFPs funded and directed by Iranian Quds Forces.

    http://icasualties.org/oef/

    English Finance Minister, George Osborne and elements of the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve” system, forbid American Law Enforcement to prosecute any of the proven criminal acts.

    Those criminal acts are described in Federal Judge John Gleeson’s analysis :

    https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-edny/legacy/2015/04/06/HSBC%20Memorandum%20and%20Order%207.1.13.pdf

    The video, below, explains American Treason that is profound:

    https://riggedgame.blog/2017/04/30/all-the-plenarys-men/

    The Filth that have sold the United States to the intentionally-mislabeled, “Federal Reserve”, have done so to appease Swiss and English Bankers.

    An explanation of Eric Holder’s MERS and the fact it “pretends” “ownership” of American mortgages as a “shell” company, is found below, on page 116.

    http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3399&context=wmlr

    The “securities” that are counterfeit are “pools of mortgage loans” that are EMPTY- There are NO “Mortgages” in the “Mortgage-Backed-Securities”.

    They have been counterfeit to launder terror and drug cartel money in banks run by people like James Comey.

    Article One, Section Eight, paragraph 6 explains, in unambiguous language: “The Congress shall have the power to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the UNITED STATES…”.

    There are NO “mortgages” in the “Mortgage-Backed-Securities”. This is all about insurance fraud on US homes.

    The homes are treated by Wall Street Filth as “commodities” and then those Filth deliberately trigger foreclosure fraud after placing insurance “bets (derivatives)” Americans will lose their homes to counterfeit “Trust” mechanisms.

    The entire Central Banking Scam represents an attack on US “Sovereignty” as an attack on US Property Rights and what everyone has been led to believe is US Currency…

    It isn’t – Its counterfeit. The “FED” is a criminal parasite and imposter.

    A “quadrillion” dollars- 1200 Trillions is an impossible amount for any bank, or group of banks to lay claim to.

    The banks have destroyed themselves NOT the American People.

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-money-exists-in-the-entire-world-in-one-chart-2015-12-18

    When the time comes, after these Filth employ the “Brexit” and then use the “Brexit” as a pretense to pull the rug from under the phony stock market…

    REMEMBER! The phony “Federal Reserve” and criminal imposters that operate it must be investigated and imprisoned as imposters and then We The People must foreclose and bankrupt them, seize their assets and nationalize the banks.

    Then We The People must re-take possession of our Birthright, issue new currency (bonds, bills and notes) and force corruption and money out of American Politics.

    ~ Michael Keane copyright 5/16/17 all rights reserved.

    Please share this post on FB and Thank You.

    https://www.gallantgoose.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FREEDOM-MONEY-LAND-AND-DEATH.pdf

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