About

Coca Cola Death Squad refers to memes made about the Soda company Coca-Cola being accused of hiring hitmen from the AUC between 1990 and 2002 to kill at least 10 labor union leaders who were trying to organize Coca-Cola’s plants.

Origin

On March 31, 2003, the US District Court dismissed charges against The Coca-Cola Company because the alleged wrongdoing either occurred in the United States but was too removed from the injury or occurred abroad and did not have a substantial origin within the United States.^[3] Federal Judge Jose E. Martinez allowed the case to go forward against two Coca-Cola bottlers: Bebidas y Alimentos and Panamerican Beverages, but not against Coke itself.^[4] On September 4, 2006, Judge Martinez dismissed the remaining claims against the two bottlers.

On August 11, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in favor of Coca-Cola, affirming the District Court's ruling.^[5] In dismissing the ATCA claims, the court cited a lack of evidence to link the actions of the paramilitaries to the Colombian government and Coca-Cola.^[6] Additionally, the Eleventh Circuit converted the District Court's dismissal of the TVPA claims on jurisdictional grounds to a dismissal on the merits for failure to state a claim.^[7]

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