Miami saves Otto Reich
HAUNTED by his past as a liar and unable to present himself before the Senate without risking humiliation, Otto Reich is now suffering from a reshuffle in the labyrinth of the U.S. administration, which is persisting in keeping him active and fulfilling his obligations to the Miami mafia in spite of all the setbacks. The King of Deception’s position has gone to another eminent emissary of the South Florida gang, Roger Noriega, an activist/official whose anti-Cuban fanaticism is matched only by his mediocrity.
In spite of the disastrous situation in Latin America, the U.S. administration has opted to continue to satisfy the mafia capos and maintain anti-Cuban zealots in the State Department at a moment when the Senate and House of Representatives are at the point of dealing fatal blows to the obsolete legislation of the blockade against Cuba. Commentaries circulating in Washington suggest that Powell tried to eliminate Reich by giving him a minor position, but balked in the light of protests transmitted on the “hot lines” of the Miami mafia radio stations.
Once the State Department’s Number One in Latin American affairs, Reich has been assigned by the president to a made-to-measure position as “Special Envoy for Western Hemispheric Initiatives,” with an office in the neighboring Executive Building next to the White House.
And what might that position be?
Well, according to White House Spokesperson Ari Fleischer, Reich is to coordinate relations between the United States and Mexico (wasn’t that Jorge Castañeda’s job?), the Andes Anti-Drug Initiative, “aspects of Cuba policy,” and “Homeland security issues in the Caribbean.”
He now finds himself under the authority of National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.
Reich was under-secretary of state until November 22, but declined to solicit the Senate’s blessing due to his embarrassing role in the Iran-Contra Scandal and? his scandalous collaboration with coup plotters in Venezuela in April last year.
Roger F. Noriega, 43, is leaving his post as ambassador to the Organization of American States, where his fame as a mediocre diplomat precedes him? despite his many years of close collaboration with Senator Jesse Helms, now retired. J.G.A.