Otto Reich Deserves Renomination

December 4, 2002
by Frank Calzon

Cuban Americans were still celebrating the re-election of Gov. Jeb Bush and resumption of GOP control of the Senate when word spread that Otto J. Reich might not be renominated as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.
Reich, a Cuban American, is a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro. When Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, refused to schedule a confirmation hearing for Reich, President Bush by-passed the Senate in January to give Reich an ''interim'' appointment.

If Reich is not renominated -- after Republicans formally retake control of the Senate -- expect Castro to be celebrating in Havana and the anti-embargo lobby, which wants U.S. taxpayers to subsidize trade with Castro, to be re-energized.
The administration has begun renominating others held back by the Democrats. None has been a Cuban American, which fans suspicions among those who say: "If Reich weren't Cuban American, he would have been renominated.''

Reich's performance as top diplomat for the Western Hemisphere has been strong. The Office of the Inspector General recently gave his bureau an ''outstanding'' evaluation. Strangely enough, what seems to be stalling renomination is his unflinching loyalty to the president and willingness to defend White House policy. Washington's bureaucrats have not forgiven Reich for supporting for the Reagan-Bush Central American policies in the 1980s -- policies that ended Soviet subversion in the region.
Does it really matter what happens to Reich if Bushs policy on Cuba remains intact? The Washington answer is Yes -- Personnel is policy.

We may be witnessing the makings of not just a personal tragedy but a political one as well. In the 1992 election, Cuban Americans were led to believe that there would be no difference between the foreign policy of George H. Bush and Bill Clinton. Clinton received a substantial Cuban-American vote. Few Cuban Americans today would make the no-difference argument; they learned otherwise and provided big votes of support to elect George W. Bush as president and re-elect Jeb Bush as Florida's governor.

But, even as Republicans reassume control of the Senate, would there be enough votes to get Reich's nomination out of the Committee for Foreign Relations? Surely Secretary of State Colin Powell, who persuaded some of America's enemies at the United Nations to support Bush on Iraq, also can persuade fellow Republicans to support Reich's confirmation.
As of late November, the committee had 10 senators from the majority party, nine from the minority. Three committee members will not be returning: Sens. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., and the late Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.
Incoming Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., wants to reduce the committee's size, and several senators would like to serve in other committees. Whatever its size, Republicans will hold a majority of the seats. Ensuring that Reich gets a hearing is a simple matter of fairness. Moreover, there's no doubt that there are Senate Democrats who will put partisanship aside, dismiss the idea that there's money to be made trading with Castro, and vote to confirm Reich.

HE CAN TAKE THE HEAT
More is at stake than ethnic politics and the ''Cuban vote.'' In today's dangerous world, there is no substitute for American leadership. Bush needs people such as Reich who can take the heat and defend his policies. Reich has demonstrated that he can do both. If Bush wont stand behind Reich now and renominate him, a lot of loyal Cuban Americans will want from the White House a better explanation than "he might not be confirmed.''

Frank Calzon, a longtime friend of Otto Reich, is Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba in Washington, D.C.