LETTER: Ethics article was insulting

To the editor:

    On Wednesday, Sept. 29, The Utah Statesman ran an article titled “Class teaches ethics from across the globe.” I found the articled to be misguided and insulting. I am appalled that quotes such as one from Professor Chad Albrecht, “what’s ethical in Colombia isn’t necessarily ethical here,” would be used to describe the people of Colombia. I am a Colombian national and in no way would ever infer that a culture, made up of millions of people, is ethically below par?

    Let me point out some missed details. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) is considered a terrorist organization worldwide. Chiquita Brands International Inc. funded a terrorist organization with figures upward of $1.7 million. With this “capital investment” they bought more illicit arms to terrorize and fund the drug-trade.

    Chiquita brands is now facing a growing number of lawsuits, their board members are facing charges in Colombia and to “add icing to the cake,” Chiquita has been fined $25 million by the U.S. Department of Justice. How can you argue that “Colombian ethics” are at fault? Are you advocating that a company born in the U.S. fund a terrorist organization?  What kind of ethics are you teaching? To Professor Albrecht: It’s awful that you are attacking a nation’s dignity. To the Author: research what you are writing about, which includes not citing non-reputable sources such as random websites.

    Finally, I would like to correct a “belief,” as Kameron Kasparian portrays it, that Colombians have to pay a terrorist organization to keep us “safe.” These terrorists force payments from the ones they are “protecting” by threatening their lives and those of close ones. That’s extortion, not security.

Jairo Hernandez