[Peace-discuss] Bye bye, Otto Reich.

[Phil Stinard]

Posted on Sun, May. 02, 2004

THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT

By Andres Oppenheimer

U.S. needs political big shot as envoy to Americas

We may soon see big changes in the Bush administration's Latin America 
policy staff. Its most visible face -- hard-line conservative Otto J. Reich 
-- is likely to leave his job in June.

Reich, a Cuban-born diplomat who took over his White House job in late 2002 
after Senate Democrats refused to confirm him as State Department head of 
Latin American affairs, told national security advisor Condoleezza Rice in 
early March that he was planning to leave in 90 days because of financial 
pressures, well-placed U.S. officials told me last week.

Reached at his office Friday, Reich did not confirm or deny the story. He 
would only tell me, ''There are many ways and places to serve the president 
and the country.'' My translation: ``I'm outta here.''

Reich's departure -- likely to be announced after the release of an 
interagency report on U.S. policy toward Cuba this week -- is likely to 
leave the Bush administration without its favorite ''bad cop'' in the 
region. The word within the White House is that whenever the president's 
office wants to get a strong message across to Latin American governments, 
the marching orders are: ``Unleash Otto.''

Reich, a strong supporter of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, has been the target 
of fierce criticism from congressional Democrats, and much of Latin 
America's left, since his days as head of the now defunct State Department 
Office of Public Diplomacy in the 1980s.

CLAIMS AGAINST REICH

During Reich's confirmation hearings in 2002, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said 
that during his stint as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela in the late '80s, 
Reich had lobbied to get Cuban exile radical Orlando Bosch out of a 
Venezuelan prison and into the United States. Bosch was imprisoned for the 
1976 terrorist bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

More recently, critics blamed Reich for allegedly supporting an April 2002 
de facto coup in Venezuela.

Reich supporters say much of the anti-Reich claims stem from the Cuban 
dictatorship's disinformation machine. They note that the State Department 
looked into these issues and has cleared Reich of any wrongdoing.

The allegations about Reich's support for the Venezuelan coup attempt stem 
from an ill-conceived White House press release that tacitly supported the 
coup plotters, they say. But the press release was drafted by the National 
Security Council's Latin American office while Reich was serving in the 
State Department, and thus had nothing to do with it, Reich's supporters 
say.

Furthermore, Reich's friends credit him with getting President Bush to 
enforce laws to deny U.S. entry visas to foreign officials facing corruption 
charges and for getting the administration to support Argentina, Brazil and 
other debt-ridden countries in their negotiations with the International 
Monetary Fund.

Would Reich be replaced soon? Not likely before the November elections.

FUTURE OF THE POST

The State Department is known to dislike policy free-lancing from the White 
House, especially from political appointees like Reich. But, if reelected, 
Bush would most likely not eliminate the job, at least in part because Latin 
American leaders like a White House-based channel to the president that 
allows them to circumvent the State Department bureaucracy when needed.

I would not be surprised if Bush or presumptive Democratic candidate Sen. 
John Kerry -- whoever wins in November -- decide to fill the job, and 
perhaps even appoint a high-profile figure for it.

Ideally, it should be a Spanish-speaking political heavyweight, with great 
connections on both sides of the border. Somebody like Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 
in a Republican administration, or New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in a 
Democratic one.

Perhaps they could be convinced to accept the job if offered a Cabinet-level 
rank.

I know, it sounds like a pie in the sky given Washington's historic neglect 
of Latin American affairs. But U.S. ties with Latin America are at a 
dangerous low, democracy is under growing threat in the region, and a return 
to political chaos and instability in the hemisphere could soon become a 
serious national security threat to the United States. It's time to think 
big about U.S.-Latin America ties.

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