Just when it seemed like things were cooling down after decades of cocaine wars in Colombia, they find themselves facing an even deadlier enemy. Chiquita. The banana folks. The Colombian president wants U.S. Chiquita folks extradited to stand charges after reports that they financed hit squads in that country and are responsible for importing several thousand AK-47s from Israel.

The weapons and money were used to kill anybody that threatened the crops or distribution channels. Gee, it sounds just like the cocaine wars. Except we're not talking about white powder and smuggling empires. It's a return to the politics of banana republics that plagued earlier generations of Central and South Americans.