Pick for State job alarms Democrats
Otto Reich, a figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, is named to a post with
oversight of Cuba policy.
By PAUL DE LA GARZA and DAVID ADAMS
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 23, 2001
WASHINGTON -- In a bow to conservatives, his brother and the Cuban-American
community in Florida, President Bush on Thursday nominated a controversial
figure from the Reagan White House to a top State Department post with
responsibility over Cuba policy.
The selection of Otto J. Reich, a Cuba hard-liner, for assistant secretary of
state for western hemispheric affairs sets the stage for an acrimonious
battle during his Senate confirmation.
A former ambassador to Venezuela, the Cuban-born Reich played a role in the
Iran-Contra affair, the Reagan administration's most embarrassing foreign
policy initiative. As a result, liberals have threatened to fight Reich's
nomination with the same fervor that they generated against Attorney General
John Ashcroft.
The problem for Reich, 55, who would serve as chief policy diplomat in Latin
America, is his past:
He was a key figure in prohibited, covert propaganda activities in the United
States designed to discredit the Marxist government of Nicaragua.
In his current role as a lobbyist, he has worked for companies that benefit
from the American embargo on Cuba, which he helped tighten.
His selection could sour relations with other countries in the hemisphere,
including Canada and Mexico, as well as the European Union, which oppose the
embargo.
Reich's nomination is a sign of Bush's gratitude to the Cuban-American
community in Florida, which helped put him in office. Meanwhile, Gov. Jeb
Bush is counting on strong Cuban-American support to bolster his own
re-election in 2002.
Gov. Bush told the Times that he considers Reich "a talented and experienced
diplomat." He telephoned his brother to express his support for Reich, who is
also a co-chairman of the Americas Forum, a conservative study group on the
region.
Reich has an impressive list of backers. They include Karl Rove, the
president's senior policy adviser; Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee; and Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida.
Daniel Fisk, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation who is a former Helms
aide, characterized Reich as "an excellent candidate."
"He's qualified," Fisk said. "He knows the hemisphere."
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, hailed Reich's "sense of patriotism."
"Otto Reich is a professional diplomat," said Joe Garcia, executive director
of the Cuban-American National Foundation in Miami. "I think he's a safe bet
for the administration."
Cuban-American critics of the embargo also recognize his talents.
"He's an intelligent man," said Alfredo Duran, a Miami lawyer and head of the
Cuban Committee for Democracy. "He's also pragmatic and a loyal follower of
the Bush dynasty, so I imagine he'll take his guidance from the White House."
Reich also has a long list of detractors.
"He's very ideological and he's very controversial," said Richard Nuccio, a
former State Department official who advised the Clinton administration on
Cuba. "I prefer a less confrontational choice with Latin America."
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., who serves with Helms on the Foreign
Relations Committee, worries that the appointment will hurt bipartisan
support for U.S. policies elsewhere in the hemisphere, such as Colombia.
He says Reich, described even by critics as bright, articulate and
strong-willed, is not "the right person for the job at this critical time."
Backing the Contras
From the summer of 1983 until late 1986, Reich ran a controversial government
office designed to generate American public support for the U.S.-backed war
in El Salvador and for the U.S.-backed Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
In 1987, the U.S. comptroller general found that Reich and associates in the
Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean waged a media
campaign supporting the Contra rebels.
An internal Public Diplomacy memo said the goal was to "concentrate on gluing
black hats on the Sandinistas and white hats" on the Contras.
The office relied on Army psychological-warfare specialists and was accused
of smearing U.S. journalists the administration found especially critical of
its Central America policy.
In a 1985 interview with New York magazine, Reich said reporters were having
sexual relations with heterosexual and homosexual Sandinista agents in
exchange for favorable coverage.
"Ultimately," a 1988 article in the Washington Post reported, "the campaign
came to resemble the sort of covert political operation the CIA runs against
hostile forces overseas but is outlawed from conducting at home."
Reich, who came to the United States when he was 15, was never charged with a
crime, and in previous interviews, has denied any wrongdoing.
"If you drive 55 mph in a 55 mph zone, you are close to the line but entirely
legal," he once said. "I never crossed the line."
Liberals mobilize
Reich is the president of RMA International, a consulting and lobbying firm
in Arlington, Va., where he has worked for six years. He declined a request
for an interview, saying, through his office, that the White House had
advised him not to talk to reporters.
Liberal groups led by the Center for International Policy are whipping up an
anti-Reich campaign.
"It would be a hugely divisive appointment," said the center's director,
William Goodfellow. "He's been so undiplomatic in his dealings in the past.
You can't believe the people who have come out of the woodwork over this."
Critics also say they will resurrect the Iran-Contra scandal, a secret
operation that helped fund the Contras with arms sales to Iran.
Reich also could face questions about his role in lobbying for the 1996
Helms-Burton Act, which tightened the embargo on Cuba. Under the act, one of
Reich's clients, liquor giant Bacardi-Martini, could benefit because of
provisions allowing suits against foreign companies that do business in Cuba.
Mark Falcoff, Latin America specialist at the American Enterprise Institute,
said supporters were gearing for a good fight as well.
"They say they are sharpening the knives for Otto," he said. "They act as
though Otto did something illegal. But in Iran-Contra he was never indicted
for anything.
"This is not about unfitness for the job or moral turpitude. It's just a
question of ideological distaste."
Fisk, a onetime staff member in the Office of Public Diplomacy, said Reich's
role with the group had been "overstated." Reagan administration officials,
he said, did not engage in illegal activity but instead chose to "educate the
American people."
Fisk said he should expect "tough questioning," but, he added, "I think he
will be confirmed."
Asked about Reich's work with the Office of Public Diplomacy, Ros-Lehtinen
said: "That's so old. It's time to let bygones be bygones."
-- Times staff writer Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.
