By Jim Burns. CNS Senior Staff Writer.
CNS News. April 02, 2001
(CNSNews.com) - For the second time in less than a week, a Cuban government
official has criticized President Bush's nomination of a Cuban exile for a top
post at the State Department, saying Bush is showing no respect for Latin
America.
Radio Havana reported Saturday that the President of Cuba's Parliament,
Ricardo Alarcon said that the naming of Otto Reich as the Under Secretary of
State for Western Hemispheric Affairs indicates, "Washington's anti-Cuba
policy will be tightened even further."
Alarcon added that Otto Reich is "not only a member of the ultra
right-wing mafia in Miami, but was also involved in the illegal Iran-Contra
operation."
Bush's selection of Reich, according to Alarcon, "shows a lack of
respect for Latin America" and is an "insult."
Several days ago, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque criticized
Reich's appointment saying it was "unbelievable" that Bush would
appoint "an old anti-communist cold warrior who was involved in illegal
activities in the dirty wars in Central America during the Ronald Reagan
administration."
Perez Roque added that Reich's nomination is "not only bad for Cuba,
but for all of Latin America."
The Cuban American National Foundation, according to its Executive Vice
President Dennis Hayes, thinks the Castro government is stepping up its
criticism of Reich because he knows them for "what they really are."
"I think it's because they realize that he's a distinguished diplomat.
He has a good appreciation of the Castro regime and its many failings and
crimes. He's the sort of guy who is going to be effective in carrying out
President Bush's policies, and those policies are to help democracy and free
enterprise flourish in this hemisphere. And that's what they fear," Hayes
told CNSNews.com in a telephone interview on Monday.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) believes that Reich should take the
criticism by the Castro government as an "honor," according to her
spokesman Rudy Fernandez.
"Criticism from the Castro regime means that you're doing some good and
you're fighting for democracy and you're fighting for the enslaved people of
Cuba. Otto should feel honored to be criticized by a dictator who enslaves
people on the island," Fernandez told CNSNews.com in a telephone interview.
The Castro government, in a broadcast on Radio Havana shortly before
Christmas 1999, called Ros-Lehtinen, "a wolf disguised as a woman."
Reich was an assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International
Development from 1981 to 1983 before serving as a special advisor to former
Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz from 1983 to 1986. During that time, he
established and managed the interagency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin
America and the Caribbean.
From 1986 to 1989, Reich was the U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela and received
the State Department's Exemplary Service Award and Superior Honor Award. He is
currently the president of RMA International, Inc.
The Senate still must confirm Reich's nomination. He could not be reached
for further comment. | 