'I Think I'm Qualified'.(Otto Reich )(Brief Article)(Interview)

Assistant secretary of State Otto Reich recently spoke with NEWSWEEK's Joseph Contreras about his critics, his priorities and his native Cuba. Excerpts:

CONTRERAS: What do you see as this administration's main policy concerns in Latin America?

REICH: There are two general categories--political-security [issues] and economic-social. There's Colombia, a friendly democracy that's facing an attack by very well financed groups of terrorists and narco- traffickers and has requested our assistance and deserves our assistance. An example of the economic-social [situation] is Argentina, which is facing a crisis primarily caused by fiscal problems.

What's gone wrong with countries like Argentina?

We can point to populist policies that led to inefficient governments. You have to ask yourself why a country like Argentina with the resources and wealth it has is in the condition that it's in. The answer has to be bad economic policies and bad management.

You've talked about corruption as practically the root of all [economic] evil.

I'm not sure it's the root of all evil, but it's one of the common denominators we see. It's perhaps the single largest obstacle to development in the Western Hemisphere.