REAGAN TO NAME CONTROVERSIAL OFFICIAL FOR VENZUELA POST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505290011-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: January 16, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505290011-0
MIAMI HERALD
16 January 1986
to name controversial official or
Reagan
ela ost A~onnd tbs Amoricas
venezu p
Rdc6.
By ALFONSO CHARDY
Herald Wwhtngton Bureau
WASHINGTON - President
Reagan said Wednesday he would
nominate Otto J. Reich, the State
Department's coordinator of public
diplomacy for Latin America and
the Caribbean, as U.S. ambassador
to Venezuela.
The announcement came after
months of speculation amid re-
ports that Venezuela had rejected
the appointment.
At the center of Venezuelan
concerns is Reich's leadership of a
controversial government program
Reich says the efforts have improved the perception
there of the administration's Central America policy.
While Reich's efforts have helped administration
policies, they have also drawn fire from White House
critics, some of whom reportedly urged the
Venezuelan government earlier this year to reject
Reich.
? In May, the first reports surfaced in Washington
that the White House was eyeing Reich for the
ambassadorship in Caracas to replace George Landau,
who retired from the Foreign Service July 1.
U.S. liberals immediately announced their inten-
tion to derail the Reicb nomination. saying the
appointment signaled that Washington would pres-
sure Venezuela to cooperate more actively with U.S.
policy against Nicaragua.
In August, a leading Caracas newspaper. El
Universal, quoted unidentified Foreign Ministry
sources as saying the Venezuelan government of
President Jaime Lusinchl had notified the State
Department of its "disagreement" with Reagan's
choice.
U.S. officials deny that Caracas opposed Reich's
nomination, but they acknowledged that Venezuelan
officials did make "inquiries" about Reich.
"After close consultations with the Venezuelan
government, all their concerns were cleared up and
they will receive (Reich] as ambassador," one U.S.
official said.
"It's a tremendous honor to represent the United
States anyVvhere, but especially in one of the leading
democracies in the hemisphere," Reich said of the
nomination. "I'm looking forward to going to
Venezuela. It's a country that shows that there is
hope for democracy and self-determination in the
developing world."
For Reich, who arrived as a refugee from Cuba 25
years ago with ES in his pocket. the ambassadorship
is a high point of his public service career.
From 1975 to 1976, he served as Miami's
community development coordinator. Then he moved
to Washington to head an office for the Council of the
Americas, a group representing multinational corpo-
rations with business interests in the hemisphere.
He backed Reagan's campaign in 1980. And, in
1981, Reich was named deputy director for Latin
America at the State Department's Agency for
International Development. In 1982 he was given
ambassadorial rank to become coordinator of the
public diplomacy bureau.
detlgned to undermine support for the Nicaraguan
government. Venezuela is one of tour countries
involved In the Contadora peace process aimed at
eating; tensions between the United States and
Nicaragua.
At a recent farewell party for Reich, friends and
co-workers gave him a T-shirt that proclaimed him
"propsganda Minister." While meant as a joke. it
aptly characterized the task that the Cuban?born
Reich, 40, has been performing over the last 2 ~,~
years.
Reich, whose nomination must still be approved
by the U.S. Senate, says his job has been fourfold: to
eduate the American public about a policy they often
find bewildering; to emphasize the best of that policy;
and to muster support for it and counter public
relations efforts by the Sandinistas, the Salvadoran
rebels and American liberals.
To carry out th~e lob, Reich's 20-member staff
Often SC CCt.yw v Pf`IACQ ee - cntnn CAy nAI[a -
inte genre n ormation_ about the Sandinistas or the
5a va oran re s t at ten to su rt 1 ms
t
In a recent interview, Reich said his program was
a success. He Bald recent public opinion polls showed
Increased support among Americans for Reagan's
policies.
Besides disseminating Information is the United
States, Reich frequently has traveled to Western
Europe to brief government officials and reporters.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505290011-0