Tape contradicts Ros-Lehtinen: The director of a documentary on Fidel Castro says he's awaiting an apology from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who had accused him of distorting her comments.

Byline: Pablo Bachelet

Dec. 20--WASHINGTON -- An Emmy Award-winning documentarian, angered over Miami congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's charge that a video in which she appears to endorse the assassination of Fidel Castro was altered to make her look more extreme, is circulating another version of the video to make his case. The uncut version of director Dollan Cannell's video shows Ros-Lehtinen twice welcoming an attempt on Castro's life. "Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has made a very serious accusation against the team who made the films," Cannell said Tuesday. "You can't get more serious than that in terms of an accusation of gross professional wrongdoing. "Her accusation is completely, totally false," he added. "I'd like her to retract what she said and to apologize." Ros-Lehtinen, an ardent Castro opponent, declined to comment Tuesday on the unedited tape. But the Republican lawmaker probably has not heard the last of her statements that on video appear to welcome the communist leader's assassination. The British documentary 638 Ways to Kill Castro is to be released on DVD "around the New Year," Cannell told The Miami Herald by phone. A broadcast on the Sundance Channel is also planned.

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." 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 ...