Ambassador Robert White
Ambassador Robert White is former President, now Senior Fellow, of the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. During his twenty-five year Foreign Service career, White specialized in Latin American affairs with particular emphasis on Central America. He has been Director of the Peace Corps in Latin America, deputy permanent representative to the Organization of American States, and U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay and to El Salvador. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1981, White served as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 1989, he joined the Center for International Policy as the President and has presided at conferences, led delegations to several Latin American and Caribbean countries and published numerous studies regarding U.S. policy towards the region.
White was the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador in 1980-81 during the first years of the Salvadorian Civil War. He was harshly critical of the Salvadorian government and accused the military and paramilitaries of committing widespread atrocities against civilians, many of which were later factually confirmed. He once called prominent military figure Roberto D'Aubuisson a "pathological killer” for collaborating with death squad killings including the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero. He also accused José Napoleón Duarte, El Salvador's President from 1984 to 1989, of being a CIA asset. Additionally, White led an ongoing effort to reform U.S. intelligence agencies.
