She says she was taken out of context and that her words were "twisted," but the film's director, Dollan Cannell, has released the unedited film.
The five-minute video, which has been posted on the MiamiHerald.com website, shows Ros-Lehtinen seated at her desk, listening to an off-mike question and welcoming the opportunity of being in a free Cuba "whether that meant that somebody killed Fidel Castro or whether somebody toppled his government."Don't get me wrong; it would be fine with me if Castro woke up dead tomorrow, and I'm sure that Ms. Ros-Lehtinen's comments were welcomed in Little Havana (full disclosure: she's my congressional representative).
According to a transcript of the 45-minute interview released by the filmmakers, the interviewer compared an opportunity to kill Castro with one to eliminate Hitler in 1939. "And I'm just wondering in terms of Fidel Castro, is there an argument for assassination or an argument that would have said, maybe this guy should have been killed or should be killed?"
"I would never compare any demon to Hitler," Ros-Lehtinen responded. "He is in a special category of hell."
She then goes on to utter the words that earlier appeared on a 28-second version of the interview that made the rounds on Youtube.com, the video-sharing website, and has been repeatedly played by TV stations in Miami.
"I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people," Ros-Lehtinen says in the video clip.
The lawmaker, who will become the ranking Republican member of the House International Relations Committee when Congress reconvenes next month, told The Miami Herald when the earlier version of the interview appeared that it was "twisted in a way that gives the viewer a totally wrong impression."
But I also think that it's probably against the law -- or at least a violation of something -- for a sitting member of Congress to advocate the assassination of a foreign leader, even if it's just wishful thinking.
