The PR papers; watching a Washington lobbyist con a would-be client.

• Author: Levine, Art
• Position: Public relations

This Washington branch of a Minneapolis law firm has over the years boasted a top-tier client list, from Coca Cola to Westinghouse. But Third World regimes are an especially lucrative sort of client, bringing in annual fees ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. (Hill and Knowlton got $10 million for its Kuwait-related account.) What do these countries think they're paying for? Good publicity, comfy trade agreements, and their fair share of U.S. foreign aid--plus the access that makes those windfalls happen.

But before the country--or the lobbyists--get rich, O'Connor & Hannan (O&H) has to create the need and fuel the greed. Hence this "pitch" letter, with its message and context decoded.

A spring proposal gives corporations and countries plenty of time to award contracts before summer vacations and the onset of the next fiscal year.

A consultant with ties to the Venezuelan government.

A former director of the Peace Corps under Nixon, Joseph Blatchford has since specialized in image-repair on Capitol Hill for Bolivia, Ecuador, and the right-wing El Salvadoran government of Alfredo "Freddy" Cristiani--governments not known for special delicacy in questioning dissidents, but that have been capable of surprising tenderness toward the corrup and the drug-monied.

Venezuela, with its reputation for corruption and periodic human rights abuses, is a perfect candidate for the Blatchford approach. With its relatively democratic government and healthy--if inequitable--economy, Venezuela was able to reap a little more than $1 million in U.S. aid last year, mostly for anti-narcotic efforts. Blatchford's challenge here: convincing the Venezuelans that he can ehlp them get even more.

Nobody in Washington cares about your obscure president.

But Blatchford does.

Your current lobbyists--such as Arnold and Porter--are doing a lousy job.

O&H lobbyists are big-shots. "A lot of statements by senators are written by our people right here on this table," said Blatchford recently, pointing to a glass table in his plush office.

O&H can make you rich from foreign investments. But be prepared to take the heat. Blatchford fails to mention that his work for El Salvador, which brought in $10,000 a month, generated so much negative publicity that the city of Minneapolis voted in December 1989 to sever ties with the law firm, costing the firm $500,000 in fees.

O&H can make your president famous in Washington and introduce him to people like Len Downie, George Will, and...