Someone at the Romney campaign screwed up, big time

Earlier this month, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney went to the Miami-Dade Lincoln Day Dinner to deliver a decidedly anti-Castro speech.

“I look forward to the day when the stain of Castro is rinsed from the Cuban soil,” Romney declared.

But his choice of words in three lines of the speech were surprising: “Hugo Chávez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase — Patria o muerte, venceremos. It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba,” Romney declared.

Roughly translated, the Spanish-language bit of that means: “Fatherland or death, we shall overcome.”

Oops. A speech writer in Romney’s shop apparently didn’t know that the phrase has been a favorite of Fidel Castro’s for decades. He closes nearly every public address with it. Occasionally, he throws “Socialism or death” in there for good measure too.

Romney has assembled an impressive campaign infrastructure in Florida, and the speech was surely vetted beforehand, which makes the snafu even more surprising. The text of the speech has been changed in the version now available online. But someone in the Romney camp ought to explain whether the governor was or was not aware that the phrase belongs to one of the world’s last remaining dictators?