In October and November 2024, several workers of plantations owned by Chiquita Brands Costa Rica SRL denounced that the banana crops they labored on were being fumigated by planes while they were working in the fields. Five months later, the situation is now far worse.

“A group of workers at the Cañaveral plantation just called me to report that they have once again been sprayed by an airplane that was fumigating the crops with chemical substances,” Carlos Quiroz, general secretary of Sitrachiri¹ said.

The Cañaveral plantation, located in the municipality of Talamanca, belongs to the Chiriquí Land Company, a subsidiary of Chiquita Brands Costa Rica (Chiquita Brands Int).

This is a very similar situation to that reported by workers at the Superamigos plantation, in Sixaola, a municipality that, like Talamanca, is on the border with Panama.

In both plantations, the vast majority of the laborers are Panamanian nationals of the Ngöbe-Buglé ethnic group.

The total disregard for human dignity repeatedly exhibited by Chiquita Brands has been denounced in the country and internationally by Sitrachiri, Fentragh and UAS², as well as by Rel UITA.

“Lamentablemente esta práctica se está haciendo muy habitual en las fincas de Chiquita. Con la salud de los trabajadores no se juega. Esto es muy serio, muy grave y debemos seguir denunciando”, manifestó Quiroz.

Maikol Hernández, general secretary of Fentragh, told La Rel that this type of abuse is becoming a very dangerous habit of Chiquita’s. Moreover, the company seems to enjoy complete impunity.

“We at Fentragh have consistently denounced these shameful practices. This is a priority matter for us,” Hernández stressed.

“We are already working with several organizations to document and denounce all the cases we can.

Unfortunately, it seems that the authorities themselves are allowing all this to happen,” he concluded.