CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

June 1, 2001



Senate switch threatens Cuba measures

By Rafael Lorente. Washington Bureau. June 1, 2001. Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON -- With Republicans retaining control of the U.S. House, the impending power shift in the Senate could create a stalemate on Cuba policy, thwarting anti-Castro initiatives and a key State Department nomination while leaving the embargo and other policies intact.

Next week's Democratic takeover of the Senate may jeopardize the nomination of Otto Reich, a favorite of the Miami Cuban-American community, as the State Department's top Latin America diplomat. It also could mean trouble for recently introduced legislation to provide millions in aid for dissidents in President Fidel Castro's Cuba.

But the Democratic takeover does not mean any changes are likely in the four-decade embargo of the island or in the travel ban that makes it difficult for Americans to visit Cuba. While farm-state legislators from both parties and others want to make such changes, they would face resistance from the Republican leadership in the House and from President Bush, who at least in part owes his election victory in Florida to Cuban-American voters.

The switch of Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont from Republican to Independent last week will give Democrats control of Senate committees, including the crucial Foreign Relations Committee, where Reich goes for confirmation. Under Republican leadership, Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, a staunch supporter of Miami's anti-Castro community, would have led the charge for Reich.

Nomination in jeopardy

But Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts have been critical of Bush's nomination of the Cuban-born Reich as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. They say Reich's role as a Reagan administration official during the Iran-contra affair and controversial lobbying activities make him unfit. Bush has not formally sent Reich's name to Congress but has announced he plans to do so.

How aggressively Dodd and others will fight against Reich remains to be seen. Marvin Fast, a spokesman for Dodd, said Wednesday that his boss feels the leading Latin America diplomat needs to be someone who can "build bipartisan coalitions," something detractors say the ultraconservative Reich cannot do. But Fast would not say whether Dodd would try to kill the Reich nomination.

Fast also denied a statement made in an e-mail by one of Helms' top aides recently that said Dodd has promised not to squelch the Reich nomination.

The e-mail, sent by Helms aide Roger Noriega to people on Capitol Hill, said Dodd had promised Secretary of State Colin Powell "that he was not going to kill Otto." The e-mail also said Republicans, with support from the White House, would fight hard for Reich, and win.

"Sen. Dodd made no such commitment and in fact he continues to have serious concerns and doesn't think he's the right person for the job at this moment," Fast said. Noriega said Wednesday that he could not contradict Dodd's staff but cited a source he would not identify but considers reliable.

Reich's supporters say they always expected the nomination would be a tough one, but they say the votes are still there in the Senate to get it through. They point to Democratic support from Florida's Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, as well as Robert Torricelli of New Jersey. Nelson and Torricelli are on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where the crucial fight will take place.

Backers of Reich point to his time as ambassador to Venezuela as proof that he is a capable diplomat. They say the allegations against him are baseless and that he was never charged with any wrongdoing.

Opposition to Reich centers on his 1980s stint as head of the State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy. Declassified documents available from the National Security Archive show that the office covertly, and some say illegally, generated propaganda to influence Congress and the U.S. public in support of Reagan administration policies in Central America.

According to a 1988 congressional Iran-contra report, Reich's office operated under the direction of the National Security Council with close ties to Oliver North and the Central Intelligence Agency.

A 1987 report by the comptroller general of the United States said Reich's office "engaged in prohibited, covert propaganda activities designed to influence the media and the public to support the Administration's Latin American policies."

Critics: Too focused on Cuba

Critics also say Reich is too focused on Cuba to be the lead diplomat for all of Latin America.

"His whole career stacks up to a litany of, if not illegalities, then improprieties that make him unqualified for the post," said Martha Honey, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington. "Reich is a payback to the Cuban-American community that in a sense handed Bush victory."

Honey was especially critical of Reich's lobbying work for businesses such as Bacardi-Martini and Lockheed Martin, which wants to sell F-16 fighter planes to Chile.

"Is he going to be able to separate this kind of lobbying work that he's done from his job as the lead diplomat toward Latin America?" Honey asked.

The dissident aid bill also could run into opposition from Dodd, who likely will head a subcommittee responsible for the legislation. Dodd said last week the bill would not see the light of day.

The fate of the Reich nomination and the dissident aid bill may rest with the White House and how much of an effort it wants to put into them.

Already, speculation in Washington has been that the White House might give up on Reich getting such a high-profile post and instead give him a job that does not require Senate confirmation. Even some Bush supporters have privately expressed anger that he announced his intention to nominate Reich in March but has yet to send his name to Capitol Hill.

"We think the administration is rethinking its position," Fast said.

But a spokeswoman for Bush said Reich's nomination was still on track. "As far as I know we're still in the process of getting him to the Hill," Jeanie Mamo said. A House aide said Reich received a call last week from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, promising the administration would support him.

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