Romney Airs Spanish-Language Ad Linking Obama to Hugo Chavez

Nov 01, 2012

Mitt Romney may be desperate for Latino voters as we get closer to election day. 

The Miami Herald reports the Mitt Romney campaign has been "heavily running" an ad that links President Barack Obama with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, Fidel Castro’s niece and Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

The Miami Herald translated the commercial:

NARRATOR: Who supports Barack Obama?

CHAVEZ: "If I were American, I’d vote for Obama."

NARRATOR: Raúl Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, would vote for Obama.

CASTRO: "I would vote for President Obama."

NARRATOR: And to top it off, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency sent emails for Hispanic Heritage month with a photo of Che Guevara.

CHAVEZ: "If Obama were from Barlovento (a Venezuelan town), he’d vote for Chávez."

ROMNEY: I’m Mitt Romney, and I approve this message.

The irony is that both Castro and Chavez have been very public with criticism of Obama.

Think Progress’ Hamed Aleaziz offers some context and facts:

In 2011, Chavez criticized President Obama for being "the president of an empire" and said he little "hope" for the President. For his part, President Obama has called out Venezuela for its repressive policies, saying in December that "we have been deeply concerned to see action taken to restrict the freedom of the press, and to erode the separation of powers that is necessary for democracy to thrive." Relations between America and Venezuela haven’t changed much since President Obama took office: in 2010 Chavez did not accept the nominated U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela. As a result, the U.S. withdrew a visa for the Venezuelan ambassador. In 2012, the Obama administration expelled another Venezuelan diplomat. 

The ad is already having negative affects on some Latino voters. 

Rosa Hombredela, a Cuban-American who identified with the Republican party, told the Miami Herald that the ad disgusted her because it reminded her of "the same infectious style of politics that put Castro in power has germinated in Miami making it a banana republic. I was born in Cuba, raised in the United States, I’m a woman, a Republican and I voted yesterday for President Barack Obama. Proud to say so."