Policy Alert!
The Nomination of Otto Reich:
Bad Omen for Latin America Policy
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On March 22, the Bush administration nominated Otto Reich,
an inside player in the 1980s Iran-contra conspiracy, to the post of assistant
secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. This is the highest
ranking U.S. administration official overseeing North and South America.
Currently, Otto Reich is a well-connected corporate lobbyist
representing liquor, tobacco, arms and other industries. He's also a vice
chairman of an apparel industry-created sweatshop "monitoring"
group, called Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP), widely
viewed as an obstruction to the anti-sweatshop movement. However, Reich
is being nominated for the post not because he's another unsavory lobbyist,
but rather because he's a friend of the Bush family and, more importantly,
because he's a high profile, conservative Cuban American. The nomination
of Reich is regarded as a political payoff to the rightwing Cuban faction,
which has held U.S.-Cuba policy hostage for decades, and which was an
important factor in George Bush's Florida strategy last fall.
Reich's nomination also invokes the ghosts of a particularly
divisive scandal. During the early 1980s, when the Reagan administration
met a rising tide of domestic opposition to its wars in El Salvador and
Nicaragua, Reich headed a propaganda department in the State Department
called the Office of Public Diplomacy. This unit was staffed with CIA
and Pentagon "psychological warfare" specialists and reported
to Oliver North. The function of the operation was to mislead the American
public by disseminating false information and discrediting reporters whose
work the Reagan administration did not like. Congressional probes of the
Iran-contra scandal later identified numerous illegalities and led to
the closure of the Office of Public Diplomacy.
For More Information:
Foreign Policy In Focus, The Republican Rule, by FPIF Staff
http://www.fpif.org/republicanrule/index.html
"Otto Reich's Dirty Laundry," by Alec Dubro, FPIF Media Officer
http://fpif.org/republicanrule/profiles.html
Ideology Triumphs--The Otto Reich Nomination
http://www.ciponline.org/reich/index.htm
News Stories from
around the Nation
documents
regarding Reich's Iran-Contra connection
from the Colombia Documentation Project of the National Security Archive
Reich Confirmation Process--Let the Debate Begin
Confirmation is a two-part procedure. First, Reich must pass the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. The committee, like the Senate itself, is
divided 50/50 along party lines. There are nine Republicans and nine Democrats.
It is chaired, however, by the notoriously reactionary Jesse Helms of
North Carolina, who has a long personal relationship with Otto Reich and
who will be trying to assure his confirmation.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
Jesse Helms, NC, Chairman
Richard G. Lugar, IN
Chuck Hagel, NE
Gordon Smith, OR
Craig Thomas, WY
Bill Frist, TN
Lincoln D. Chafee, RI
George Allen, VA
Sam Brownback, KS
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., DE, Ranking Minority Member
Paul S. Sarbanes, MD
Christopher J. Dodd, CT
John F. Kerry, MA
Russell D. Feingold, WI
Paul D. Wellstone, MN
Barbara Boxer, CA
Robert G. Torricelli, NJ
Bill Nelson, FL
If the nomination passes through the committee, it must still be voted
upon by the entire Senate. At that point, every vote will count. Given
the troubling facts about Reich, the controversial nomination may mean
a close vote--especially if the senators begin hearing from their constituents.
Information on Your Senator:
Your Senators can be reached by calling the Capitol switchboard and
asking to be connected to your senator's office. The Capitol switchboard
number is 202.224.3121. Your senator can also be reached in their home
office. If you are interested in contacting your senator in their home
offices, you can call the Washington offices through the Capitol switchboard
and ask for the local district information, or you can look it up directly
on the Internet at www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm.
Just click on your Senator's name, and it will take you directly to their
webpage.
You can write any senator by addressing the envelope to:
Senator (Last Name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
You can make an appointment to talk to your Senators while they
are home or visit them in the District.
Questions? Want to be more involved?
Contact the Center for International Policy at 202.232.3317, or FPIF's
Erik Leaver at 202.234.9382 ext. 240.
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