MIAMI -- A glimmer of hope surfaced in the eyes of a Southwest Florida citrus grower on Tuesday, as influential business leaders from across the Western Hemisphere gathered behind closed doors at the Hyatt Regency overlooking the scenic Miami River.

At an agricultural workshop, held as part of the effort to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement, Robert Coker, a vice president for U.S. Sugar Corp. and Southern Gardens Citrus in Clewiston, heard a promising proposal.

It was to allow the exclusion of some agricultural products in the FTAA. It's what hemispheric business leaders expect to recommend today to the 34 trade ministers responsible for negotiating the wide-sweeping agreement that's meant to boost trade in the Americas.

" There is some recognition that there should be some exclusions," Coker said.

He hopes those exclusions will be for citrus and sugar. At these talks, he's fighting for the Brazilian citrus tariff and against a reduction in tariffs on sugar imported into the United States.

Without the tariff on Brazilian juice, Coker and many others believe Florida's entire citrus industry will dry up.

At stake is a $9 billion commercial citrus industry in Florida and an industry that pumps more than $500 million into Southwest Florida's economy. Southern Gardens Citrus is one of the largest citrus growers in Southwest Florida and the state, with 28,000 acres.

And U.S. Sugar is one of the largest sugar producers in Florida. That's why Coker has been doing so much talking since his arrival in Miami early Monday.

He's participating in the Americas Business Forum, which is giving more than 800 business leaders from around the hemisphere the opportunity to have a say in the trade negotiations.

Participants have been discussing everything from government procurement policies to market access and agricultural subsidies. Today, they will make their final recommendations to the 34 trade ministers, who will meet Thursday and part of Friday in Miami in hopes of making progress on the FTAA.

On Tuesday, Coker had a busy day of meetings. He rubbed elbows with as many people as he could, including former state Sen. Rudy Garcia and Leslie Palmer, the Washington liaison for Florida's agriculture commissioner.

His day included a 30-minute interview with a cable television station. He said it's not his "forte," but he couldn't pass up the chance to defend the industries he represents.

Coker also attended a State of Florida luncheon, where Gov. Jeb Bush was a speaker.

While Bush made no references to the citrus or sugar industries in his speech, Coker made sugar a part of light conversation at his table. He encouraged everyone to add sugar to their water glasses. He poured four packets of sugar into his own glass, which combined with a lemon wedge turned his drink into lemonade.

Bush used his speech to once again make the argument for why the office that would oversee the FTAA should be in Miami. Miami is up against other strong contenders, including Panama City, Panama, and Atlanta.

" Florida welcomes the political and business leaders of the 34 democratic nations of the Americas, and strongly advocates free and fair trade as envisioned by the FTAA," Bush said. "With strong cultural, economic and historic ties to every country in the FTAA, Florida is both the logical and optimal choice for the permanent secretariat."

Andy LaVigne, executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, the industry's largest trade group, listened to Bush's speech, in between workshops and private negotiations with the trade minister of Belize.

He hopes to meet with trade ministers for other developing countries today, in an effort to make them allies in the fight to keep the tariff on Brazilian juice. LaVigne said he's heard proposals from business leaders to give special consideration to import sensitive crops, which could be helpful for the state's citrus growers.

That will be welcome news to the two other Southwest Florida growers who are expected to arrive in Miami today to help in the fight to keep the tariff, which equates to about 30 cents a gallon. They could be followed to town by as many as 20,000 protesters. On Thursday, a march and rally for global justice are planned.

It was still eerily quiet on the streets of downtown Miami on Tuesday. Many businesses remained closed, including attorney's offices, banks and some restaurants.

Steel gates and fencing continued to go up along the borders of a secured area that snakes around downtown Miami. By early afternoon, police -- who seemed to be everywhere -- were tightening up on security.

They were asking people for three forms of identification before allowing them access into the secured area, even those who were registered to attend the FTAA talks and carrying special badges. One FTAA delegate described the setting as the "calm before the storm."

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