Back to the Future

...He was deputy chief of mission in the U.S...

...Southern Command on Colombia policy, and he brings to the National Security Council a dedication to Washington's war on drugs in the region-a dedication that bodes poorly for alternative strategies, 2 John Negroponte Ambassador to the United Nations: A career diplomat with 37 years in the foreign service, Negroponte served as ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985 As ambassador, Negroponte dedicated himself to Reagan's anti-Communist drive in the region, overseeing the extensive military build-up in Honduras, the Big Pine II joint military exercises that deployed thousands of U.S...

...policies in Latin America...

...3. Associated Press, "Senate Panel OKs U.N...

...Gustavo Alvarez Martfnez...

...He went on to become the State Department's most senior Latin America official and was embroiled in the Iran-Contra scandal when he traveled to London in disguise in order to solicit a $10 million contribution for the Nicaraguan Contras from the Sultan of Brunei...

...Still, at least he is honest about himself...

...Most recently, under Clinton, Maisto served as political adviser to the U.S...

...Abrams subsequent guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts for having illegally withheld information from lawmakers was nullified when Bush I pardoned him just before leaving office, in December 1992.1 John Maisto NSC Special Advisor on Latin America: A professional foreign service officer, Maisto has a record of crisis management in a career spent largely in Latin America...

...The appointments may derail what little progress was made under the Cinton administration to move beyond the hardline policies of the past, and now threaten to revive the poisoned and polarized atmosphere of the Reagan era...

...Nominee," September 13, 2001...

...Central Intelligence Agency, "Selected Issues Relating to CIA Activities in Honduras in the 1980s" (CIA Office of the Inspector General, August 27, 1997), posted on the Web-site of the National Security Archive at <<http://www.gwu.edu/-nsarchivAlatin_americathonduras...

...4. Julien Borger, "Cold Warriors on Parade as Bush Puts Clock Back in Latin America," The Guardian Weekly, July 5, 2001...

...prejudices" after Castafeda's appointment as foreign minister last year), raising questions as to how he will handle his new position as America's premier diplomat to the hemisphere...

...As a lobbyist for Bacardi Martini, Inc., Reich advised Senator Jesse Helms' office in the drafting of the Helms-Burton Act, which contains provisions that benefit Bacardi...

...support for the Contras led Washington to invest tens of millions of dollars in aid to Hondura's military-then involved in a clandestine campaign to detain, torture and murder suspected subversives...

...At a meeting of the Latin America Studies Association in Washington last Sep- tember, Noriega began by reciting his prepared script as OAS representative, but quickly reverted to form when audience members criticized past U.S...

...before the September 11 attack, Democrats in the Senate put a "hold" on the nomination, derail- ing the appointment at least temporarily...

...A Cuban-American who most recently served as the senior aide on Latin America to Senate Foreign Affairs Commit- tee chairman Jesse Helms, Noriega helped promote Helms' xenophobic, anti-Communist and anti-Castro agenda in the Congress...

...Whether or not the tactic survives the post-terror push for unity remains-at this writing-- to be seen...

...A though the former Texas governor promised to forge a new and special relationship with Latin America during his presidential campaign, Bush hijo has named a sate of dedicated Cold Warriors to fill many of his governments most senior policy positions that affect Latin America...

...Gary Cohn and Ginger Thompson, 4-part series in The Baltimore Sun on June 11, 13, 15 and 18, 1995...

...5. Peter Kornbluh, "Bush's Contra Buddies," The Nation, May 7, 2001...

...Associated Press, "Helms, Critic Meet in Mexico," April 18, 2001...

...According to the National Commis- sioner for Human Rights in Honduras, dozens of Hondurans died or disappeared during the early 1980s at the hands of the CIA-trained intelligence unit Battalion 316, a death squad run by then-army chief and graduate of the U.S...

...School of the Americas, Gen...

...During his ambassadorship, U.S...

...As head of Reagan's "Office of Public Diplomacy" at the height of the Contra war, Reich specialized in the art of domestic covert operations: spending public money to lobby U.S...

...embassy in Panama during the 1989 invasion to topple Manuel Noriega, ambassador to Nicaragua at the time of the electoral defeat of the Sandinistas, and a former ambassador to Venezuela...

...Noriega's public statements place him as a leading proponent of the drug war in the Andes, and a blunt critic of the region's left and former-left (he accused Mexico's Jorge Castaneda of "anti-U.S...

...Even the three senators voting against Negroponte declared that they did not question his qualifications, and would not block his nomination given the pressing need for the post to be filled.3 Roger Noriega Ambassador to the Organization of American States: Roger Noriega's appointmenment to represent the United States before the regions principal multilateral forum would be a cruel joke, if it were not all too true...

...I make no apologies for mistakes made during the Cold War," said Noriega sharply...

...Congress had previously barred such aid to the Contras then trying to topple Nicaragua's left-wing Sandinista government...

...In 1987 an investigation by the Comptroller General concluded that Reich's office--which included military officers skilled in psychological warfare- engaged in prohibited, covert propaganda activities designed to influence the media and the public...

...Reich also represents the corrupt nexus between political power and corporate clout that charac- terizes 8ush's Washington...

...But despite the evidence against him, Negroponte was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the new U.S...

...Leo Valladares Lanza and Susan Peacock, In Search of Hidden Truths: An Interim Report on Declassification by the National Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras (Honduras: 1998...

...The hard-right knuckle-draggers like [former Helms aide] Dan [Fiske] and me get no credit for what we did to bring the Soviet Union to its knees " 4 Otto Reich Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs: Cuban-born Otto Reich, an ultra-right ideologue who has equated Castro's Cuba with Nazi Germany, is another refugee from the darkest days of the Iran-Contra scandal...

...Back to the Future 1. Christopher Marquis, "Bush's Latin America Nominations Reopen Wounds," The New York Times, August 1, 2001...

...citizens to support the Presi- dent's Central America policy through editorials, op-eds and speeches drafted by his staff of ghost writers...

...2. Arms Trade Resource Center,"Current Update," January 31, 2001, <<http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/updates/013101.html...

...troops in the country from 1983 to 1984, and the training of Contra forces on Honduran bases by CIA and Argentine advisors...

...see also institute for Policy Studies website, <<httpJiwww.ips-dc.org/stopotto/quotes.html>>, for a selection of public statements made by Reich...

...Reich's record has made him a target of opposition among public interest groups...

...As Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs he covered up the human rights crimes of the Guatemalan mili- tary in an effort to convince Congress to approve aid to that government...

...Center for Justice and Human Rights Law (CEJIL) and Human Rights Watch/Americas, The Facts Speak for Themselves: The Preliminary Report on Disappearances for the National Commissioner for the Protection of Human Rights in Honduras (Washington, D.C.1995...

...Human rights groups charge Negroponte with turning a blind eye to the political killings, and with purging information from embassy human rights reports that implicated the military in the disappearances...

...his firm RMA Intemrnational has received over half a million dollars from Bacardi since the law was passed...

...Indeed, given his vehement opposition to Castro and support for the 1996 Helms-Burton Act- which seeks to punish foreign companies doing business in Cuba-Noriega's nomination (along with that of Otto Reich, see below) appears to be a political pay-off to the conservative Cuban-American community in Florida, which helped assure Bush Junior's dubious victory as president in 2000...

...Through both terms of the Reagan administration, Abrams served as the leading shill for Latin America's most brutal authoritarian regimes, while helping hide their worst excesses...

...Reich also helped weapons giant Lock- heed Martin in its campaign to sell F-16 fighter jets to Chile, a move that ends a long-standing ban on the sale of advanced weapons systems to Latin America...

...envoy to the United Nations, in a hearing held just two days after the terrorist attacks in the United States...

...Elliott Abrams National Security Council (NSC) Special Advisor on Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations: Like Dracula, Abrams has risen from the political grave to which he was consigned after his 1991 con- viction on charges of lying to Congress to occupy the top position on the National Security Council for democracy and human rights...