Otto Juan Reich was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on January 11, 2002. He has spent over 30 years in hemispheric affairs, in government, private enterprise, and the U.S. military.
From 1989 to 2001, Ambassador Reich was in private practice, advising U.S. and multinational clients on government relations, market access and strategic planning, as a partner in the Brock Group and later as President of his own consulting firm.
From 1986 to 1989 Ambassador Reich served as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, for which he received the highest awards of both the State Department and the Republic of Venezuela. As Special Adviser to the Secretary of State from 1983-1986, he established and managed the inter-agency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Department of State, which received the Department's Meritorious Honor Award.
From 1981 to 1983 he was Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in charge of U.S economic assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1991 and 1992, as a private citizen and at the request of President George H.W. Bush, Ambassador Reich served as Alternate U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
His prior experience includes service as Washington Director of the Council of the Americas; Community Development Coordinator for the City of Miami, Florida; International Representative of the State of Florida Department of Commerce; and staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ambassador Reich's military service included duty as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (1967-1969) in the 3rd Civil Affairs Detachment (Airborne), Panama Canal Zone. He received a Bachelor's degree in International Studies from the University of North Carolina (1966) and a Master's degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University (1973). He has appeared regularly in U.S. and Latin America news media and was co-host of CNN International's "Choque de Opiniones," a Spanish-language version of CNN's "Crossfire."
Ambassador Reich has been a Director of numerous private and non-profit corporations.