1.   Colombia is the third largest banana exporter in the world, behind Ecuador and Costa Rica.

2.   That has allowed Europeans to claim, inaccurately, that this is about politics, and that they are simply favoring poor Latin American banana exporters.

3.   The principal Caribbean banana exporters to the European Union are Jamaica, Dominica, St. Lucia, and the Windward Islands.

4.   The principal Caribbean banana exporters to the European Union are Jamaica, Dominica, St. Lucia and the Windward Islands.

5.   The United States is not a banana exporter.

6.   Banana exporters are often targeted by thieves because they are the largest employers in the fractured nation and are forced to carry cash in a country without banks.

7.   Chiquita Brands International Inc., which emerged this week from bankruptcy reorganization, has new top management as the banana exporter seeks to make a fresh start.

8.   Chiquita, best known as a banana exporter, also produces and distributes other fruits, vegetables and processed foods.

9.   It is backed by four Latin American banana exporters, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras and Mexico.

10.   Prompted by U.S. banana exporters, the United States is also considering challenging the EU rules as trade barriers.