The Pigs Squeal Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Peter Bell The Pigs Squeal [From the "Letters" section of "The Economist" for May 18, 2002 in which the pigs, their tails improbably caught in a door in Venezuela, squeal most unctuously. Most interesting for those keeping score at home is probably the name of the office this little piggy calls home; Reich's old shop was the "Office of Public Diplomacy." This little piggy -- according to the Dept. of State organizational directory -- works in the Office of Public Diplomacy. Apparently they're really, really hoping that no one has read up on the history of that office. They know the Economist has, which is why this little piggy didn't include that in his signature. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, nosir. --PB] Events in Venezuela SIR -Two articles on events in Venezuela between April 11th and 13th are marred by inaccuracies and what some might characterise as a slur ("Tales from a failed coup", April 27th). [Particularly those whose paychecks are cut by their angry bosses, who thought that everyone would forget about the necessity to perform a recess appointment to get them in the door without the entire building calling Hazmat teams because of the stink.] America's message to all parties in Venezuela before and during the crisis was consistent, clear and forthright: firm rejection of any unconstitutional and undemocratic efforts to overturn the constitutional order. We did not ignore the suspension of the National Assembly by interim authorities but strongly urged its retention. Moreover, we worked closely with our hemispheric partners, before, during and after the events, to encourage a peaceful and democratic resolution to the crisis. [Hm. What I'd read in the papers before the coup was that the main message was: Dump Chavez by any means necessary. We'll back you up. I gather that when "we work closely with our hemispheric partners" the author refers to the United States Navy assistance with radar and ELINT in support of the coup.] The most egregious element of your article is the intimation that the policy of the United States towards Latin America is distorted by the presence of "Cuban-American" officials at the National Security Council, Department of State and USAID. It is difficult to see why national background is any more relevant to good sense and sound policy judgment in the case of Cuban-Americans than in the case of other hyphenated Americans, who make up all of our population. [We direct you to the fascinating interpretations of United States law, common law regarding rights of parents, and international law during Elian Gonzalez' abduction and subsequent illegal detention following the death of his kidnapper. These truly remarkable interpretations were furnished by elements in the Cuban-American community whose CIA handlers once thought that they should call themselves "gusanos," or worms. The name has stuck, but - as with Chevrolet's Mexican marketing campaign for the Nova - not played exactly as all had intended. Some in the current administration took prominent and shameful roles in the affair. Can we explain their ludicrous, better-dead-than-red claptrap - highlighted by their holding a young child and his family hostage to their blind outrage over Cuba? We cannot, but we must observe that it is not manifested by all Cuban-Americans, but rather by the clique of nutjobs from within which Bush repeatedly draws his appointees.] As for the references to the past of "most-controversial" Otto Reich, it is untrue that he was an adviser to the Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980s, or that he helped Oliver North raise money for them ("After the coup, the reckoning", April 20th). Mr. Reich's job at the Department of State in the 1980s was to provide the American public with accurate information about events and American policy objectives in Central America. [Goodness me. Was *that* his job description? Here and I thought we were talking about the same Reich who ran the Office of Public Diplomacy during the Reagan era. Back when it was shuttered by the Comptroller General of the United States for "prohibited, covert propaganda activities, [...] beyond the range of acceptable agency public information activities." *That* Otto Reich's job involved lying to the US population about the Contra's track records as Somoza's henchmen and about their egregious crimes during their prosecution of a cowardly campaign directed against the easy, soft targets. Precisely the kind of campaign which we now consider the work of terrorists. A staff report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee found that that *other* Otto Reich's office employed "senior CIA officials with backgrounds in covert operations, as well as military intelligence and psychological operations specialists from the Department of Defense, [who] were deeply involved in establishing and participating in a domestic political and propaganda operation run through an obscure bureau in the Department of State which reported directly to the National Security Council rather than through the normal State Department channels [...] Through irregular sole-source, no-bid contracts, S/LPD established and maintained a private network of individuals and organizations whose activities were coordinated with, and sometimes directed by, Col. Oliver North as well as officials of the NSC and S/LPD. These private individuals and organizations raised and spent funds for the purpose of influencing Congressional votes and U.S. domestic news media. This network raised and funneled money to off-shore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands or to the secret Lake Resources bank account in Switzerland for disbursement at the direction of Oliver North."] [Someone should get on the phone with Chris Dodd's office and explain that the Otto Reich he promised to grill over this criminal behavior in confirmation hearings and the Otto Reich now serving proudly are in fact two entirely different individuals. Why, perhaps someone from the new, honest Office of Public Diplomacy, such as the author of this hissy note, should make the call! I'm sure Dodd in particular would appreciate the irony.] [For more information on the bad, anti-commie Otto Reich, readers can look at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB40/ for starters.] [We'd like to know more about the background of this kinder, gentler Otto, perhaps with an eye to prosecuting the nasty criminal one for identity theft.] It is true, however, that he was and remains a staunch anti-communist, just as you say. Mr. Reich is proud of being an American of Cuban extraction and of having worked to remove the menace of communism from most of this hemisphere. This is a trait Cuban-Americans are proud of and one that demonstrates ample good sense and sound judgment, as recent world history bears out. [Open the time capsule! Sealed for 50 years! The Red Menace is baaa-aack!] CHARLES BARCLAY Spokesman and media adviser Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs US Department of State, Washington, DC [Soon to be sweatily giving a deposition before the nation on a lobotomy tube in your living room. Interesting that the State phone directory lists him as part of the Office of Public Diplomacy, but he doesn't himself! The Economist might not have run his note if he'd told them what office he was from, of course.] http://www.foia.state.gov/mms/OrgDirectory/OrgDir.asp?ID=52 [Let's hope for Barclay's sake that they didn't unseal Nixon's 1960 makeup team, too -- think how much worse that'd look on HDTV.] ================================================================= 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 ================================================================= nytsa-05.17.02-23:54:48-1547