Jump to full article: El Tiempo (co), 2005-05-10
Intro: [Translated from Spanish by Suzanne Lazarus]
A fundamental failure of the U.S. Supreme Court of Justice opened the doors last week for the Colombian departments and the National Government to try in American courts the damages caused by three multinational cigarette manufacturers: Philip Morris, RJR Nabisco and British American Tobacco, for promoting or tolerating for many years the smuggling of their cigarettes into Colombia and for evading taxes on these cigarettes.
The court's decision is the latest episode in a trial which was begun by departments of the American justice system in 2000, to which the National Government was later added to bring charges for the laundering of assets. The basis of this was the argument that smuggling is a mechanism used by some drug traffickers to launder illegal funds. Due to a set of partial reversals in lower courts--even though the battle has not been won--the court's decision raises the hopes that the Colombian claims will be effective.
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In the meantime, this will send a critical message to the multinationals that they must compete honestly and, above all, take special care in avoiding criminal conduct.
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It is intolerable that cigarettes are distributed as gifts to youth in shopping centers, bars and restaurants to get them hooked on the vice. Moreover, it is inexplicable that the country has not signed and ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or created legislation to prohibit and sanction the sale to and use by minors.
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Total annual consumption is 21 billion cigarettes, and the effect on public health is enormous: in just this last year, cigarettes killed 25,000 people. For this reason, the State should act without delay to stop this.
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