Otto Reich

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Otto Juan Reich (born October 16, 1945), a Cuban-American, is former senior official in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. From January 2003 to June 2004, he held the position US Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere for the Secretary of State in the Bush administration.

Reich was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere in January 2002, but his nomination was met with great criticism and his appointment was never confirmed by the US Senate. Bush then appointed him US Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere for the Secretary of State, a post which does not require congressional approval.

Reich is a highly controversial figure because of his fervent anti-Castro ideology and his activities in support of the Reagan administration's Central American policies.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Office of Public Diplomacy 3 2002 Venezuelan coup 4 External links

Early years

Reich was born in Cuba to a Cuban mother and an Austrian-Jewish father, Walter Reich, whose parents died in the Holocaust and who had fled to Cuba in 1938. His father was trying to reach the United States but he remained in Havana, where he settled down, got married, and sold furniture. At age 14, Otto Reich, raised in his mother's Catholic faith and then attending an elite private school, left with his family for the US as refugees when Fidel Castro came to power.

In 1966, Reich received a B.A. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . From 1967 to 1969, he served in the US Army at the Panama Canal Zone.

After receiving an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University in 1973, Reich worked as a staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives, a representative of the Florida Department of Commerce, community development coordinator for Miami, and Washington director of the Council of the Americas.

From 1981 to 1983, Reich was assistant administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in charge of US economic assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1991 and 1992, at the request of President George H. W. Bush, Reich served as alternate US representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

Office of Public Diplomacy

From 1983 to 1986, Reich established and managed the inter-agency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (OPD). It reported to the State Department, but congressional investigations later determined it reported directly to Reagan's National Security Council aide Colonel Oliver North in the White House. The OPD collaborated with Central Intelligence Agency propaganda experts and Army psychological operations specialists to disseminate what it called "white propaganda" designed to influence public opinion and spur Congress to continue to fund the Reagan's administration's military campaign against Nicaragua's Sandinista government.

Reich was never charged with breaking Congress's ban on aid to the Contras.

From 1986 to 1989, Reich served as ambassador to Venezuela. His appointment was contested both by Democrats in Washington and Venezuelan political leaders, but objections were overridden.

From 1989 to 2001, Reich worked as a corporate lobbyist for clients such as Bacardi, British American Tobacco, and Lockheed Martin, which sought to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Chile. He also helped draft the Helms-Burton Act which tightened the embargo of Cuba.

2002 Venezuelan coup

Reich held the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the time of the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt.

Administration officials and anonymous sources acknowledged meeting with some of the planners of the coup in the several weeks prior to April 11, but have strongly denied encouraging the coup itself, saying that they insisted on constitutional means. [1] Because of allegations, Sen. Christopher Dodd requested a review of US activities leading up to and during the coup attempt. The OIG report found no wrongdoing by US officials either in the State Department or in Embassy. Inspector General Report

According to a report in The New York Times, Reich warned Congressional aides that there was more at stake in Venezuela than the success or failure of Chávez. He accused Chávez of meddling with the historically independent state oil company, providing haven to Colombian guerrillas and bailing out Cuba with preferential rates on oil. He also said the administration had received reports that "foreign paramilitary forces"-- which they suspected to be Cubans -— were involved in the bloody suppression of anti-Chávez demonstrators, in which at least fourteen people were killed.[2]

The United States, which had acknowledged the de facto government, did not condemn the coup until Chávez had been restored to power. U.S. government statements

He also serves as vice-chairman of Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP).

From 1998 to 2001, Reich was co-host of CNN International’s “Choque de Opiniones,” a Spanish-language version of CNN’s “Crossfire.” He appears regularly on US and Latin American media.

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