Ambassador Otto J. Reich
Background
Otto Juan Reich is President of Otto Reich Associates, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm providing international government relations, trade, and investment advisory services to U.S. and multinational clients. Over the course of his career, he has held senior roles in U.S. foreign policy, business, and military service, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean.
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In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Ambassador Reich as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, reporting to Secretary of State Colin Powell. He later served as Special Envoy for Western Hemisphere Initiatives on the National Security Council under Dr. Condoleezza Rice, until his departure from government in 2004.​
From 1989 to 2001, Ambassador Reich worked in the private sector as a consultant on international government relations and strategic planning—first as a partner at The Brock Group, then as President of his own firm. In 1991–1992, he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as Alternate U.S. Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
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During the 1980s, he received three presidential appointments from Ronald Reagan. From 1986 to 1989, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, earning top honors from both the U.S. State Department and the Government of Venezuela. Prior to that, he directed the State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (1983–1986), and served as Assistant Administrator at USAID overseeing U.S. economic assistance to the region (1981–1983).
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Earlier in his career, Ambassador Reich held various public and private sector roles, including Washington Director of the Council of the Americas, Community Development Coordinator for the City of Miami, International Representative for the Florida Department of Commerce, and staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Born in Havana, Cuba, Reich earned a B.A. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina (1966) and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University (1973). From 1966 to 1969, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Civil Affairs Group (Airborne) in the Panama Canal Zone.
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From 1998 to 2001, he co-hosted CNN International’s Choque de Opiniones, the Spanish-language counterpart to Crossfire, and continues to appear frequently on media outlets across the U.S. and Latin America.
