Urgent Action on Otto Reich Needed 10/8 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - "Steve Wilkinson" OCTOBER 8, 2001 Dear All, Please do all you can to oppose this appointment call 1 202 224 3121 and ask for the offices of either one or all of the following (if you can afford it) Senator John Kerry Senator Christopher Dodd Senator Joseph Biden Tell their aides that you are utterly opposed to the appointment of Otto Reich as Spokeperson on Latin American Affairs fearing that this will put back US Cuba relations by decades. Remind them that Mr Reich was one of the leaders of the campaign to keep Elian Gonzalez in the US. Stop the Confirmation of Otto Reich! The Bush Administration and right wing are callously using the tragic events of Sept. 11 to ram through their right wing agenda, and Democrats are caving in before them. The all but dead nomination of Otto Reich has been resurrected (October 5th) and without massive phone calls to Senators Joseph Biden, John Kerry, and Christopher Dodd, he may be confirmed as early as this week. Otto Juan Reich, who was the first director of the State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy (OPD) for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1983 to 1986, has been nominated for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Reich 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. Reich who, as the National Security Archive reports, 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. A right-wing Cuban American and a former ambassador to Venezuela, Reich is now undergoing a State Department background check. He would oversee U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America and Canada. The major U.S. media sees Reich's appointment as causing conflict within the Republican Party between Florida's powerful Cuban-American exile lobby and a growing number of conservative business leaders and farmers who want to open new markets in Cuba. But analysts are also saying that a Reich appointment could sour goodwill gestures to the rest of the Americas, setting up a showdown with Mexico and other nations. The Dallas Morning News reports that Mr. Bush appears to be depending heavily on Cuban-Americans for key foreign policy advice. Reich's Office of Public Diplomacy 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. 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. For more information, contact the Nicaragua Network at (00 1 202) 544-9355 or by e-mail at nicanet@afgj.org. Web site: www.infoshop.org/nicanet Cuba Solidarity Campaign c/o Red Rose Club, 129 Seven Sisters Rd, London N7 7QG Tel. 0207 263 6452 Fax. 0207 561 0191 E.Mail: office@cuba-solidarity.org.uk World Wide Web http://www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-10.08.01-14:05:26-18864