Jury selection is getting underway in a Palm Beach federal courtroom ahead of the trial of banana giant Chiquita Brands International.
The families of six Americans kidnapped and killed in Colombia by FARC terrorists during the 1990s are suing. They say Chiquita violated the Anti-Terrorism Act by paying FARC about $220,000 over nearly a decade to protect banana operation employees.
The families claim the company should be held responsible for the Americans' deaths and pay potentially millions in damages.
Chiquita says it only paid FARC to protect its banana operation employees and interests from violence.
FARC is the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.