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Office of Public Diplomacy
The Office of Public Diplomacy, officially known as the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean, was part of a White House ordered PR plan in the 1980s to provide cover for the secret CIA war in Nicaragua. CIA director William J. Casey initiated the propaganda campaign after meeting with private sector PR men. Walter Raymond, Jr., a CIA propaganda expert, moved over to the National Security Council to get the program up and running. Raymond is reported to have instructed his OPD subordinates to "concentrate on gluing black hats on the Sandinistas and white hats on UNO [the contras' United Nicaraguan Opposition]."[1] Raymond picked Otto Reich to run the new OPD, which was housed in the State Department. Despite the unraveling of the Iran-Contra scandal, the full story of the OPD -- a covert, illegal, inter-agency propaganda campaign aimed at US citizens and Congress -- never received full public scrutiny.
SourceWatch Resources
External links
- Public Diplomacy Wiki
- John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, "The Torturers' Lobby," Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Common Courage Press, 1995, pp. 162-7.
- "Lost History: CIA's Perception Management", by Robert Parry, Consortium News, 1996.
- "Public Diplomacy and Covert Propaganda: The Declassified Record of Ambassador Otto Juan Reich", A National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book, edited by Thomas Blanton, March 2, 2001.
- "Otto J. Reich: Bad for Latin America", World Policy Institute, Arms Trade Resource Center, Current Update April 9, 2001.
- "Making a Difference. Cari Eggspuehler, Special Assistant, Office of Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs, US State Department", by the Partnership for Public Service.
- "Our Crippled Public Diplomacy." Includes U.S. Department of State Organization Chart for Public Diplomacy.
- Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs: U.S. engagement in the world and the Department of State's engagement of the American public are indispensable to the conduct of foreign policy. The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs helps ensure that public diplomacy (engaging, informing, and influencing key international audiences) is practiced in harmony with public affairs (outreach to Americans) and traditional diplomacy to advance U.S. interests and security and to provide the moral basis for U.S. leadership in the world.
- The Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Missions. Reorganization Plan and Report, submitted by President William Jefferson Clinton to the Congress on December 30, 1998, Pursuant to Section 1601 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, as Contained in Public Law 105-277.
- Bill Berkowitz, "The Reich Stuff," AlterNet.org, May 6, 2004.
- Robert Parry, "History of Guatemala's 'Death Squads,'" Consortium News, January 11, 2005.
