Jay Nordlinger is a senior resident fellow at the Renew Democracy Initiative and a contributor at The Next Move.
My guest in this new podcast is Otto Reich, “a veteran foreign-policy hand and an old friend of mine.” I have quoted my introduction.
That introduction continues as follows:
Under Reagan and Bush 41, he was U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. Under Bush 43, he was assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. Reich was born in Cuba. “Otto Reich” is not a typical Cuban name. His father, Walter Reich, escaped Austria over the Alps. The rest of the family was murdered. Eventually, this young man, Walter Reich, found his way to Havana—that is an interesting story.
The Communists took over Cuba in 1959—New Year’s Day. The family did not wait very long to flee. Walter Reich had had his experience in Europe.
At the end of our podcast, I ask Otto to talk a bit about his family.
The podcast is mainly about Venezuela, however—a country that Otto knows well. We go over some basic questions.
What should one make of the US operation in Venezuela?
Is it strange to extract a dictator while leaving the dictatorship in place? Is this “dictator change” rather than “regime change”?
What about Venezuelan nationalism, and Latin American nationalism more broadly? Will trying a leader—even a brute such as Maduro—in the United States inflame it?
Should rulers in Cuba and Nicaragua be nervous?
In late November, President Trump pardoned a major-league drug-trafficker, Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras. Now we are prosecuting another one?
There are 8 or 9 million Venezuelans in exile. If Venezuela improves, or returns to democracy outright, will those people go home?
If we are back to “spheres of influence” and “might makes right,” what does that portend for Ukraine and Taiwan?
It is a great pleasure to talk with my old friend, Otto Reich. He is a Reagan conservative and a democrat through and through. That he is an anti-Communist goes without saying. Also, two of his early jobs brought him into close proximity with two military dictators: Somoza and Pinochet. He avoided shaking the hand of either.
More from The Next Move:
FOFCON Pod: Resistance and Rebuilding
David Smolansky talks exile, the fight to restore democracy, and his vision for a free Venezuela.
