BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

  Florida-based corporations, including some from Miami-Dade and Broward counties, make up the largest number of exhibitors scheduled to attend the
  upcoming food and agribusiness trade show in Havana.

  At least 10 percent of the 264 exhibitors signed up for the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition so far are from Florida, event organizers confirmed
  Thursday.

  ''Some of these companies are either owned by people of Cuban descent or have people of Cuban descent in senior management positions,'' said John
  Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a New York-based group that tracks the island's economy.

  The Sept. 26-30 trade show at Havana's Palacio de las Convenciones is the first to be held on the island since Fidel Castro assumed control of Cuba in
  1959. It was organized specifically for U.S. companies that hope to get a piece of the expanding Cuban market.

  Organizers declined to identify the Florida corporations Thursday but said they are made up of producers, brokers, manufacturers and transportation
  entities with ties to the food products and agricultural products.

  Exhibitors, which include some of America's agricultural giants, will display more than 1,000 products from 33 states, Puerto Rico and the District of
  Colombia. Some 20,000 visitors are expected to attend.

  Cuba has bought more than 770,000 tons of U.S. food since the damage caused by Hurricane Michelle last year provided a humanitarian pretext for
  direct food sales to Cuba.

  The government initially avoided purchases from Florida-based companies, but that changed earlier this year.

  Two of the Florida companies participating in the fair already have sold products to Cuba. One is Tampa-based Florida Produce of Hillsborough County,
  which recently shipped the first batch of U.S. onions to Cuba in more than four decades.

  The other is from South Florida, but organizers declined to identify the firm.

  ''The Cuban government, for many years, connected Florida politics with Florida commerce,'' Kavulich said. ``Earlier this year, the government
  disconnected Florida politics from Florida commerce. Some companies in Florida have now separated Cuba politics from Cuba commerce.''

  Over the last 10 months, Cuba has bought about $122 million worth of products. But Florida ports have yet to reap any benefits. The loads have been
  shipped to Cuba out of seven U.S. ports, all outside of Florida.

  U.S. companies are allowed to sell food and agricultural products to Cuba under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, which
  reauthorized direct commercial exports to the island on the condition that sales be paid for in cash.

  Cuban officials have said the event will help identify new products and pave the way for further sales.