Errors en Español

Summary
McCain's new radio ad, in Spanish, aims to show Florida would benefit from the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which he supports. But every number in the ad is wrong, except one, a prediction of job gains taken from a group favoring the trade deal. And even that number is rounded upward so generously as to flunk third-grade arithmetic.

Analysis
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, is a longtime advocate of free trade. He promoted the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and free trade in general during his visits to Colombia and Mexico last week. His campaign announced the release of a Spanish-language radio ad targeting voters in Florida on July 2. Narrated by Tony Villamil, the state's ex-director of tourism, commerce and economic affairs, the ad uses statistics to argue that the pending trade agreement is crucial to Florida's economy. 

McCain Radio Ad: "Colombia Trade"
Tony Villamil: This is Tony Villamil speaking, ex-director of Tourism, Commerce and Economic Affairs of Florida.

When it comes to a strong economy for our state, commercial trade with Latin America is crucial. Three-quarters of Florida's exports are with Latin America, and the Colombian Free Trade Agreement would create even more opportunity.

In this election, there are some that talk about revising the Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada and oppose the Agreement with Colombia. This would hurt our economic future.

Last year Florida's exports to Latin America reached almost $45 billion dollars. Colombia is Florida's third most important export market and this trade agreement would create almost 5,000 new jobs.

John McCain supports the Colombian Agreement, knows about our alliances with our hemisphere and understands our economy grows thanks to trade.
Remember who stands for prosperity in Florida, our country and our hemisphere. His name is John McCain.

John McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

Announcer: Paid for by John McCain 2008.

The false figures begin with the ad's claim that "three-quarters of Florida's exports are with Latin America." That's wrong. According to the trade statistics generator from the U.S. Department of Commerce, all of Florida's international exports totaled close to $45 billion dollars in 2007, and the state's exports to Latin America AND the Caribbean last year equaled nearly $24 billion. That means 53 percent of Florida's exports go to the region, much closer to half than three-quarters. Exports to Latin America by itself would be even smaller.

This also means the ad's assertion that "last year, Florida's exports to Latin America reached almost 45 billion dollars" is false. As we just pointed out, that was the figure for the state's exports to all countries, not just Latin America.

Finally, the ad trips up when it claims: "Colombia is Florida's third most important export market." While we don't know how to measure the "importance" of a market, we can quantify the dollar value of exports sent to each. And by that metric, Colombia ranks fifth – not third – in Florida exports, according to figures from the Commerce Department, as well as from the Census Bureau. But McCain should know this already, because he said it himself on May 20, in an article he wrote for Miami's Latin Business Chronicle.

McCain, Latin Business Chronicle, May 20, 2008: Colombia today stands as Florida's fifth largest export market – Florida exported $2.1 billion worth of goods there last year – and now the Colombians are offering to drop their barriers to American goods.

We contacted the McCain campaign repeatedly about the figures used in the ad but received no answer as to where the campaign's numbers came from and why they differed so much from the Commerce Department's statistics. We also called Florida's Department of Finance, but a spokeswoman there could only point us to federal agencies for numbers on trade.