Romney No Comprende Cuba

Mitt Romney tried to have an "Ich bin ein Berliner" moment with a group of Cuban exiles, but instead ended his speech with a favorite Castro slogan:

People chuckled when presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon raised in Michigan and elected in Massachusetts, bungled the names of Cuban-American politicians during a recent speech in Miami.

But when he mistakenly associated Fidel Castro's trademark speech-ending slogan -- Patria o muerte, venceremos! -- with a free Cuba, listeners didn't laugh. They winced.

Castro has closed his speeches with the phrase -- in English, ''Fatherland or death, we shall overcome'' -- for decades.

''Clearly, that's something he was ill-advised on or didn't do his homework on,'' said Hialeah City Council President Esteban Bovo. ``When you get cute with slogans, you get yourself into a trap.''

Romney's fumble demonstrates the potential snags for state and national politicians trying to navigate the Cuban-American community of South Florida.

If you don't speak the language, the middle of a campaign is not the time to start practicing.

By the way, "Ich bin ein Berliner" roughly translated means "I am a doughnut". The correct way would have been "Ich bin Berliner". However, the Germans didn't seem to mind when JFK said it.