Reich: The Wrong Thug for the Job

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

source - kwald@california.com

San Antonio Express-News -  04/23/2002

Editorial: Wrong man for this job 

After President Bush nominated him to be assistant secretary of state
for Western Hemisphere affairs, Otto Reich did not receive Senate
confirmation - for good reason.

Reich, a Cuban-born American who despises Fidel Castro, was a figure
in the Iran-Contra scandal that rocked the Reagan administration in
the mid-1980s.

In early January, taking advantage of a loophole that allows a
president to push through nominations of non-Cabinet members when the
Senate is in recess, Bush appointed Reich to a one-year term.

Now he is paying dearly. Reich was a central figure in the failed
April 11 military coup in Venezuela. Long before and during the brief
ousting of President Hugo Chávez, Reich was in touch with leading
Chávez opponents. This nation then fumbled its response to the coup.

The United States can't afford further fiascoes in Latin America. In
nations such as Mexico and Argentina, even though they are not
friends of Chávez, Washington appeared hypocritical in supporting a
coup against a democratically elected president.

Bush, who wants to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the Western
Hemisphere nations, should reconsider his support for Reich. The
White House needs someone who can mend fences in the region, not
someone who is widely distrusted.

 
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