Mitt Romney's campaign is running a Spanish-language ad in the Miami area that ties President Barack Obama to figures who are anathema to many in the region's Cuban population -- Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Che Guevara.
The Miami Herald reported that the ad has been running since at least Tuesday, and links Obama to endorsements from Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro's niece, as well as to an email sent by an EPA administrator containing an image of Guevara.
Florida polling shows Romney has a statistically insignificant edge in the state. The ad is an attempt to shore up support for Romney among traditionally Republican Cuban voters, a majority of whom are voting for Obama, according to a recent SurveyUSA poll.
Here's a translation, per the Herald:
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 EPA said that the email had been sent by a staffer without official approval, and she has apologized for her error.
Mariela Castro, who is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, said she would vote for Obama during a visit to the U.S., a move that Romney criticized.
The Romney campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ad.
It's not the first ad the campaign has released under the radar in recent days. It put out a misleading ad on the auto bailout in Ohio, implying that Chrysler was shipping American jobs making Jeeps to China, a claim a Chrysler spokesman rebuked. The Romney campaign also ran another ad repeating an erroneous charge from over the summer that Obama had removed work requirements for welfare.
Watch the ad:
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