It appears they were in a Catch22 ..for the protection of their employees, but the solution apparently is illegal. They'll pay the fine, but I wonder what the legal solution is in such a lawless country going forward. If they decide to pull out, there go bananas.
Thank you. I found it all confusing.
Colombia has improved enormously under Uribe. FARC, along with the paramilitaries that sprung up to oppose it when the Colombian military and police were ineffective, is fading away. Companies don't have to pay protection anymore, and there is even tourism in regions that were formerly too dangerous to set foot in.
I used to translate cases from there that would make your hair stand on end, and it was very routine for companies (ranging from petroleum companies to agribiz) to pay protection. But now Colombia is recovering from Bill Clinton's give-away, when he forced the Colombian government to turn over a huge area of the country to FARC as a sort of no-man's land ruled by the Communist guerrillas. Bush has had a lot to do with the improvement and has given the Colombians the support necessary to carry it out.