Otto Reich

From 1983 to 1986, Reich established and managed the inter-agency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (OPD), which sought to promote the Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua.[1][4] Reich managed a staff including officials from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and The Pentagon, some of whom were personnel trained in psychological warfare. Reich reported to Oliver North, who then worked at the National Security Council,[3][2] although the office itself was under the State Department.[5]

The OPD sent false information to the US media, such as a claim that the Nicaraguan government was involved with drug trafficking.[2] It also wrote opinion pieces in mainstream US newspapers, attributed to fictitious Nicaraguan rebel leaders, attacking opponents of Reagan's foreign policy.[3] While heading this office, Reich also once demanded a meeting with staff of the National Public Radio (NPR), after NPR reported on a massacre of civilians carried out by the Contras, and warned the staff that their reports were being monitored.[2] Reich also confronted journalists at CBS News in April 1984 after the network aired a documentary about El Salvador that, according to Reich's superior George Shultz, favored the country's guerrillas over the US and Salvadoran governments.[2]

Reich's position drew him into the Iran-Contra affair. A House Foreign Affairs Committee report characterized the OPD as a "domestic political and propaganda operation", while the Comptroller General of the United States described the office as having engaged in "engaged in prohibited, covert propaganda activities."[2][1][6] A 1987 Congressional committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair stated that the OPD had encouraged "′white propaganda′: pro-Contra newspaper articles by paid consultants who did not disclose their connection to the Administration."[7] A senior U.S. official described its activities as "a huge psychological operation of the kind the military conducts in denied or enemy territory."[8] The Comptroller General also determined that the OPD violated rules placed on the State Department's use of funds.[6]

The OPD was shut down in 1987 after the investigation.[2][3] Reich himself, described as the "chief spinner" of the Iran-Contra effort by journalist Ann Bardach, was not accused of illegal activity.[1][3] Reich said that the Comptroller General report was flawed and called the investigation into Iran-Contra an "inquisition."[1] The operation involving op-eds, described in a declassified memorandum from one of Reich's subordinates to Patrick Buchanan, then the communications director for the Reagan White House, was also denied by a spokesperson for Reich.[2]

Reich served as the US Ambassador to Venezuela between 1986 and 1989.[9] In that position he lobbied the US government to press for the release of Orlando Bosch, a Cuban exile militant then being held in Venezuela under suspicion of organizing the bombing of Cubana de Aviación Flight 455. Reich argued both that Bosch was innocent, and that his safety was threatened.[10][11] After Bosch's acquittal and release in 1986, Reich asked his superiors on multiple occasions for permission to grant Bosch a visa, but was denied.[12] Reich subsequently denied taking a special interest in Bosch's situation.[2] In 1989, Reich received the State Department's "Exemplary Service Award".[13] Reich maintained good relations with the government of Jaime Lusinchi, and received the Order of the Liberator, Venezuela's highest honor, from him.[14]

From 1989 to 2001, Reich worked as a corporate lobbyist. In 2001, he was President of RMA International, a lobbying and consulting company. In this role, he helped the rum company Bacardi, which wanted to revoke Cuba's trademark protection, so that it could use a familiar Cuban rum brand name, "Havana Club".[2][1][5][15] Bacardi's efforts met success with the passage of the Helms–Burton Act in 1996, which tightened the US embargo against Cuba, and stripped trademark protection from the brand name. Reich helped author the act.[2][5][15] Reich was also involved with an effort by Lockheed-Martin to sell F-16 jet fighters to Chile, which would have been the first time in twenty years that advanced weapons had been sold by the US to Latin American countries.[2] In 1991 and 1992, at the request of President George H. W. Bush, Reich also served as Deputy US Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.[4] Reich was co-host of CNN International's Choque de Opiniones, a Spanish-language version of CNN's Crossfire, on which he represented the right-wing position.[2][4]

In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Reich to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, the top State Department post for Latin America. The nomination was supported by his brother, Jeb Bush, then the Governor of Florida.[16] The Senate, however, did not allow confirmation hearings, and the appointment resulted in controversy. Opponents to Reich's nomination cited his advocacy as ambassador to Venezuela for Bosch, and his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Bosch was described as a terrorist by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney General.[2][17] After the nomination process had lasted for nearly a year, Bush made a recess appointment, allowing Reich to remain in office for a year without being confirmed by the Senate.[2] Reich was sworn in on January 11, 2002.[4]

Reich held the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the time of the Venezuelan coup d'état on April 11, 2002, that briefly overthrew President Hugo Chávez. During the coup, Reich spoke to coup leader Pedro Carmona Estanga, who replaced Chávez as president, and urged him not to shut down the National Assembly.[2][18] Reich also spoke to ambassadors of other Latin American countries hours after the coup, telling that Chávez had resigned, and asked them to support the new government.[2] Carmona nonetheless dissolved both the Assembly and the Supreme Court, leading to a popular uprising that toppled the coup government and returned Chávez to the presidency.[2][18] After Chávez was returned to power, the US supported a resolution issued by the Organization of American States condemning the coup: however, a perception remained among Latin American countries that the US had played a role in it, and led to concerns over Reich's appointment.[2]

Reich's year-long term as Assistant Secretary of State was ended in December 2002. Reich was replaced at the State Department by Roger Noriega, and became special envoy to Latin America, which was a position that did not require confirmation by the Senate.[16][19][20] Reich resigned from the Bush administration in June 2004, citing "personal and financial reasons."[16]

During the 2008 US presidential election, Reich served as an adviser on Latin America to John McCain.[21] During the 2012 US presidential election, Reich was a spokesman for the Mitt Romney campaign.[22] Reich also served as a foreign policy advisor to Jeb Bush during the latter's 2016 presidential campaign.[23] As of 2020, Reich runs a Washington, DC-based business consultancy,[21][24] Otto Reich & Associates.[25] In 2001, Reich was also vice-chairman of Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production.[26]