Some still call Reich divisive; Washington defends appointment

By ALFREDO CORCHADO and LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News

MEXICO CITY – Mexico, which is asserting an increasingly influential role throughout the Americas,
is prepared to work with President Bush's controversial choice for the top Latin America diplomatic
post, Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda said Friday.

Although some Latin American diplomats in Washington have privately expressed dismay with Mr.
Bush's pick of Cuban-American Otto J. Reich for the sensitive job, the Mexican foreign minister said
in an interview that he could accept the selection.

"This is the person who President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell have chosen to deal with
Latin America and with Mexico at that level," Mr. Castañeda said.

"And we are looking forward to working with him closely in the same spirit of cooperation, and with
the same strategic relationship that I have developed with Secretary Powell and that President Fox
has with President Bush."

Mr. Reich's critics in Washington say he is focused on maintaining a 43-year-old embargo against
communist Cuba and is a divisive figure from the Cold War era.

A week ago, President Bush, bypassing strong opposition by key Senate Democrats, appointed Mr.
Reich the State Department's top official in charge of Western Hemisphere affairs as the region faces
major crises in Argentina and Colombia.

Mr. Bush nominated Mr. Reich a year ago, but the Democratic-led Senate has refused to give him a
confirmation hearing.

So Mr. Bush, while the Senate was in recess, appointed Mr. Reich, a former U.S. ambassador to
Venezuela, to serve as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. Now Mr. Reich
can serve for at least one year without Senate confirmation.

'Desperate need'

Latin American diplomats and experts have expressed concern about Mr. Reich. Some said the
appointment demonstrated indifference toward the region on the part of the administration, in contrast
to Mr. Bush's earlier vows to make Latin America a priority.

"Right now, Latin America is in desperate need of attention," said a Washington-based Latin
American diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We need bipartisan, constructive support,
and a divisive figure doesn't help the situation."

Michael Shifter, vice president for policy at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, a
Washington think tank, said: "Nothing against Reich, but you need someone with bipartisan support.
His appointment doesn't convey a message that Latin America is a high priority for the Bush
administration."

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher countered that having Mr. Reich on board reflects the
"importance that we attach to Central and South America, and our desire to work actively with
people in this region."

For nearly a year, the Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee had refused to give
Mr. Reich a confirmation hearing, triggering a high-profile public dispute over the nomination. Mr.
Reich led a controversial program in the mid-1980s to generate public support for the anti-Sandinista
rebels, or Contras, in Nicaragua.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the foreign relations subcommittee on Latin America,
has called Mr. Reich too divisive, a one-issue figure obsessed with the destruction of Fidel Castro of
Cuba, the nation Mr. Reich left as a young boy.

Mexico as mediator

Since taking office in December 2000, the Fox administration has actively expanded its foreign policy
role throughout the region and has developed close ties with embattled leaders at odds with the
United States, from Hugo Chávez of Venezuela to Mr. Castro of Cuba. Mr. Fox and his team are
preparing to visit Cuba next month.

Mexican officials say they see Mexico serving as a bridge or mediator between the rest of Latin
America and the United States.

In the interview, Mr. Castañeda reiterated Mexico's opposition to the decades-old U.S. embargo
against the Caribbean island, a position at odds with Mr. Reich and the Bush administration.

"We think the embargo is futile and not conducive to any of the purposes it has," Mr. Castañeda said.
"We think the human rights situation in Cuba is a matter of legitimate concern for the international
community, and we think it's important for Mexico to maintain good, solid relations with Cuba on all
sorts of things, while at the same time making clear our stance on these issues of human rights abuses."