Otto Reich

Who is Otto Reich?

Otto Juan Reich, a Cuban-American, is former senior official in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Among other positions held, he has been the President's Special Envoy for the Western Hemisphere; Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; United States Ambassador to Venezuela; and Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, a recess appointment. In 2003, Bush appointed him US Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere. Since leaving the White House in 2004, he has headed his own international consulting firm, Otto Reich Associates, LLC, based in Washington, D.C..

During the Nicaraguan Civil War, Reich was in charge of the U.S. Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean, which was involved in lobbying efforts for the contras.

In July 2012, Reich received the Walter Judd Freedom Award, which is awarded yearly by the Fund for American Studies to recognize "individuals who have advanced the cause of freedom in the United States and abroad, are devoted to the preservation and expansion of freedom, influential in world and national affairs, and are outspoken voices against tyranny and oppression, while embodying the characteristics of self-sacrifice and patriotism."