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----- Original Message -----
From: Julio V. Ruiz,
M.D.
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 10:39 AM
Subject: [CubaNews] CUBAN-AMERICANS AGAINST THE CONFIRMATION
OF "OTTO REICH" Stop the Confirmation of Otto Reich URGENT! CALL WHITE HOUSE TO STOP THE CONFIRMATION OF OTTO REICH!
Call the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111 and tell the President that he should not make an interim appointment of Otto
Reich to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs. President Bush
may take advantage of the Senate recess (until January 23rd) to make this interim one-year appointment of Reich to be the
highest
State Department official for Latin America. It is urgent that you
call the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111 and tell the
President that he should not appoint Otto Reich to this high
State Department position. When you make your call you may talk to a live
operator or be offered the chance to leave a voice message.
Reich is a right-wing Cuban American who was ambassador to Venezuela.As an Assistant Secretary of State, he would oversee
U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America and Canada. Otto Juan
Reich was the director of the State Department's Office of
Public Diplomacy (OPD) for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1983 to
1986. He was accused by Congress in 1987 of engaging in "prohibited,
covert propaganda activities" in his efforts to promote the Reagan
administration's policies toward Nicaragua.
In the 1980's, as the head of the State Department's Office of PublicDiplomacy (OPD), Reich maintained a private network of
individuals and organizations whose activities were coordinated
with, and sometimes directed by, Colonel Oliver North as well
as other officials of the National Security Council. These
private individuals and organizations raised and spent funds
for the purpose of influencing congressional votes
and U.S.
domestic news media. Reich's office ran smear
campaigns against
US journalists and activists that were perceived as
being too
pro-Sandinista,often alleging that they were either financially,
politically, or sexually involved with Sandinistas. In carrying
out this work, Reich was specifically responsible for hiring
Psychological Operations staff from the CIA to try and sway
American opinion. Otto Reich directed this office in cooperation
with Oliver North, and though he was not punished for his work
with the OPD, the OPD was the only office shut down as a result
of its activities during the Iran Contra scandal.
Since his time at OPD, Otto Reich has been a lobbyist for particularly unsavory causes. He is a lobbyist for Bacardi,
Inc., and has represented the tobacco and arms industries.
He was one of the key players in drafting and lobbying for
the Helms-Burton legislation in 1996 that tightened the
embargo against Cuba, and that would allow the US to sue
foreign companies for doing business in Cuba. He has
also
been involved in the dispute with Cuba over Havana Club rum,
lobbying for legislation that would allow the US government
to ignore Cuba's trademark rights to produce the rum. He has
lobbied for Lockheed Martin, trying to get fighter jets sold
to Chile, despite a 20 year moratorium on selling arms to
South America.
If you point your web browser to www.wrapapparel.org , you'll find the homepage of what appears to be a group devoted to
working in solidarity with oppressed and exploited workers.
The Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) program
bills itself as an independent, non-profit effort to certify
that the clothes you wear were produced under humane and legal
conditions, and proudly trumpets the vita of its vice-chairman,
"Ambassador Otto Reich."
WRAP is, in fact, a creature of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association. An article in The American
Prospect quotes Terry Collingsworth, an attorney with
the International Labor Rights Fund, as saying it was
"set up as an industry dominated monitoring project as
a cover to avoid legitimate monitoring. It's a dodge,
and is so regarded by everyone except the industry."
The National Security Archive has placed on its web site numerous documents that reveal Reich's role in the Reagan
Administration's Central America policy. Visit the site at
www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ to learn more about Mr. Reich's career.
Articles about Otto Reich and biographical information are
posted on www.stopottoreich.net
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