U.S. Uses the "Big Lie" Technique to Brand Cuba a Terrorist State

On Monday, May 6, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs, Otto Reich, accused Cuba of having interfered in the attempted right-wing coup against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela last month. The same day, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton, claimed that Cuba was developing biological weapons of mass destruction for use by "other terrorist states" such as Iraq and Libya. No evidence was offered to substantiate either claim.

Otto Reich, a notorious right-wing Cuban-American, was appointed by President Bush to the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, despite strenuous opposition by the Senate. Bush had previously tried to get Reich into the State Department in March 2001, but the Senate Foreign Relations Committee rejected him, not only because of his right-wing Miami connections, but also because of his role in running an illegal, covert propaganda campaign against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. He was also accused of direct involvement with the Contra terrorists, who killed tens of thousands of Nicaraguans during their war against the Sandinistas.

Reich was sworn in as head of the Latin American Desk at the State Department in March 2002. Evidence is growing about his role in the short-lived coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last month. The New York Times reported that Reich met with Pedro Carmona, the leader of the coup, on the day he seized power. This raised concerns that Reich and other officials were stage-managing Carmona's takeover. The U.S. did not want to appear to be supporting the overthrow of a democratically-elected president, but issued a statement condemning the action against Chavez only after Carmona was forced to resign a couple of days later.

In May, Reich joined the Board of Supervisors of the infamous Pentagon-run Western Hemispheric Institute for Cooperation and Security, formerly called the School of the Americas and dubbed by many as the School of Assassins. His job is overseeing courses at the school. Throughout its 57-year history, the military school has been known for teaching courses on methods of torture as well as fascist ideology. Among its graduates have been army officers accused of leading brutal military coups and committing massive human rights violations throughout Latin America.

Reich's most recent claim that four Cuban planes landed in Venezuela in the middle of the coup attempt were quickly refuted. Caught in a lie, his superiors at the State Department have refused further comment.

John Bolton was also using the technique of the "big lie" when he accused Cuba of developing biological weapons for use by terrorist states. His only "evidence" was the fact that Cuba has built a world-class biomedical and pharmaceutical industry in spite of the American economic blockade. Cuba has even become an exporter of vaccines to numerous developing countries. Bolton claims that the ability to produce vaccines and pharmaceuticals proves that Cuba also has the technological ability to produce biological weapons and must, therefore, be doing so. This use of innuendo, based on absolutely no evidence, to plant the seeds of disinformation is the stock-in-trade of the "big lie" technique, which was perfected by the Nazi regime and is now a central feature of U.S. propaganda.