Deane Hinton, Envoy Who Denounced Salvadoran Death Squads, Dies at 94

By SAM ROBERTS MARCH 30, 2017




Deane R. Hinton, center, the United States ambassador to El Salvador, in San Salvador in 1983.
Credit Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images


Deane R. Hinton, an American career diplomat who was rebuffed by the Reagan administration over his accusations of human rights abuses by Salvadoran security forces and right-wing “death squads,” died Tuesday at his home in San Juan, Costa Rica. He was 94.

. . .

Mr. Hinton, a plain-spoken economist, served as the United States ambassador to El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama, as well as Zaire and Pakistan, under four Republican presidents beginning in 1974.

He was also an assistant secretary of state for business and economic affairs in the Carter administration and helped negotiate wheat sales to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

El Salvador was not considered a coveted posting — the American Embassy was a fortress — when Mr. Hinton was recruited by Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. in 1981 to be President Ronald Reagan’s envoy there.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/world/americas/deane-hinton-dead-american-ambassador.html?_r=0

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141743131