Romney on Cuba, redux

I didn't hear him speak, so I am not sure how big a screw-up it was when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used one of Fidel Castro's favorite lines to express his support for Cuban freedom.

However, to determine where Romney actually stands on Cuba, it might be helpful to read the remarks he prepared for delivery at the Miami-Dade County Lincoln Day Dinner, as posted on his campaign's Web site:

"In two years, we will mark the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. We will also note a far more sobering occasion - the half century that will have passed since darkness descended 90 miles to our south, and a despotic reign fell over a proud people. Unless something happens to hasten the demise of a corrupt dictatorship, 50 years will have passed since Fidel and Raul Castro seized Havana, confiscated property, and tore apart families and lives.

"The year 2009 will also mark nearly three decades since Castro set tens of thousands of his countrymen adrift on the open seas, confirming in every rational mind the moral depravity of his tyranny.

"Through the Internet, TV, Radio Marti and other Miami radio stations that broadcast into Cuba, we know that word of news and events here in the U.S. gets back to Cuba. To this daily flow of truth I would like to add my message to your own. America will never back down to the Castro brothers. There will be no accommodation, no appeasement. There will be no end to our insistence that political prisoners are set free, and that Cubans themselves are finally given the privileges that today are enjoyed only by Castro's cronies, and by foreign tourists. After 50 years, with so much suffering, so much sacrifice, we will not relent until the day when the Castro brothers meet their ignominious end and their history is written among the world's most reviled despots, tyrants and frauds.

"As President, I will stand side-by-side with the members of this community in fighting the menace of the Cuban monsters."

As for specifics, Romney has a seven-point plan for Latin America:

"First, we must continue to isolate Castro with economic and diplomatic sanctions.

"Second, we must help our friends. Foreign aid and foreign investments must be focused on those who stand alongside us.

"Third, we must once again act to inform public opinion in Latin America. We should use our world renowned media and communications savvy to spread the truth about American freedom, and Castro tyranny.

"Fourth, we must improve our economic ties. The President has negotiated vital free trade agreements with Latin American neighbors like Peru, Colombia and Panama, but some Democrats in Congress are so beholden to their labor bosses that they have refused to confirm them. It is time to put the interests of humanity and of the nation first.

"Fifth, we must rebuild relationships of respect and trust and friendship. Our Latin American friends must always feel welcome in the White House. And congratulations are in order to the President for his travels this week to Latin America.

"Sixth, as we finally and belatedly secure the border and solve the problem of illegal immigration, we must reaffirm our appreciation of legal immigration. We are a nation of immigrants and refugees, and they have contributed a great deal to our culture of hard work, entrepreneurship, faith in God, love of family, and respect for human life.

"And finally, we must never again ignore Latin America. It is a great deal easier to prevent a crisis than to end one. Since the end of the Cold War and since the terror of 9/11, America has become so preoccupied with other regions that we have forgotten our friends in our own hemisphere. And we have ignored the potential threat. Consider with concern the visit here from Ahmadinejad, the aspiring nuclear terrorist.

And as for Romney's unintentional tribute to Castro during his speech, this is what was written beforehand:

"I said at the outset that the threat in Latin America is unprecedented. I say that because the Castros have a second tyrant and he has great wealth, from oil. We must stand just as firm against Caudillos like Hugo Chavez, tutored by Fidel Castro. Chavez and Castro are brothers in blood, intent on personal gratification at the expense of their people. Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have stolen the phrase – 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.' This phrase should not be used by dictators, but by liberators."

UPDATED, March 21, 2007

Michelle Malkin has much more on the story.