REGION: Otto Reich quits
The special adviser to the White House on Western hemisphere affairs, Otto Reich, quit his post on 3 May. Reich claimed his decision was based on financial concerns, saying that he couldn't live on his government salary.
Reich, a Cuban-American, will not be missed in Latin America. Chief neo-con in the Bush administration, he was responsible for the US's tough line on Venezuela and Cuba in particular. This made him unpopular throughout the region; many leaders refused to meet him and he was the focal point for much of the anti-US rhetoric to emerge in recent months.
Reich's departure will please not only President Castro in Cuba, against whom he was recently formulating an even tougher policy, but also President Chávez in Venezuela, whom he constantly tried to tie to Cuba. Evo Morales, the leader of the coca growers in Bolivia, will also be glad to see the back of a major opponent to him and his movement