The Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers announced a multi-million dollar lawsuit against U.S.
cartoonist Mike Peters over a cartoon published
in U.S. newspapers linking Colombian coffee with crime syndicates.
According to the coffee growers, the Pulitzer Prize winner’s comic insults Colombia’s national dignity. The association seeks “not just an economic compensation for something that damages the intellectual heritage. We also want moral compensation. A public manifestation,” federation director Gabriel Silva said Tuesday.
The coffeegrowers expect to be compensated for US$20 million.
Peters apologized for having offended anyone in a letter that arrived at newspaper El Tiempo’s editor’s office, but didn’t respond to the lawsuit threat of the coffee growers.
According to the cartoonist, the specific comic is part of a series of cartoons based on the fact that the inventor of potato crisp Pringles had his ashes buried in one of his invention’s package. Peters says he never intended to insult anyone.