Deane R. Hinton
Armed Department of State security agents accompany U.S. Ambassador Deane Hinton in El Salvador circa 1982.png
U.S. Ambassador to Panama
In office
9 January 1990 – 12 February 1994
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byArthur H. Davis, Jr.
Succeeded byOliver P. Garza
U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica
In office
17 November 1987 – 4 January 1990
PresidentRonald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Preceded byLewis Arthur Tambs
Succeeded byRobert O. Homme
17th U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan
In office
21 November 1983 – 9 November 1986
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byRonald I. Spiers
Succeeded byArnold Lewis Raphel
U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador
In office
28 May 1981 – 15 July 1983
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byRobert White
Succeeded byThomas R. Pickering
U.S. Ambassador to Zaire
In office
June 20, 1974 – June 21, 1975
PresidentRichard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Preceded bySheldon B. Vance
Succeeded byWalter L. Cutler
Personal details
Born
Deane Roesch Hinton

(1923-03-12)March 12, 1923
Fort Missoula, Montana
DiedMarch 28, 2017(2017-03-28) (aged 94)
San Jose, Costa Rica
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
OccupationDiplomat

Deane Roesch Hinton (March 12, 1923 – March 28, 2017) was an American diplomat and ambassador.

Biography

Hinton was born March 12, 1923, in Fort Missoula, Montana. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1943 and joined the U. S. Army, serving as a 2nd Lt. during World War II. After the war he attended Harvard University from 1951 to 1952 and the National War College from 1961 to 1962.

A career Foreign Service Officer, his postings included Syria 1946-1950,[1] Mombasa, Kenya 1950-1952, Guatemala 1954-1969, France 1954-1955, and Chile 1969-1973. Hinton was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Zaire in 1974. Poor relations with Mobutu Sese Seko led to him being declared persona non grata on June 18, 1975.[2] He later served as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador in 1981-83, Pakistan in 1983-86, Costa Rica from 1987 to 1990, and Panama from 1990 to 1994. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and American Academy of Diplomacy. Hinton died on March 28, 2017.[3]

Hinton was no stranger to controversy. In 1949, while serving at the US embassy in Syria, he became aware of the US plan to support a coup overthrowing the democratically elected government. His prescient comment was, “I want to go on record as saying that this is the stupidest, most irresponsible action a diplomatic mission like ours could get itself involved in, and that we’ve started a series of these things that will never end.” However, the new government, led by Husni al-Za'im, did the US's bidding and allowed the trans-Syrian oil pipeline, instigated talks with Israel and imprisoned left-wingers and trade unionists. He was executed in his pyjamas within the year, much as predicted by Hinton.

Hinton succeeded Robert E. White as ambassador to El Salvador after White was removed from his post by the Reagan administration; as a result, Hinton was seen as "the bearer of the administration's big stick". However, according to Joan Didion, Hinton's public statements differed from White's "more in style than in substance".[4] During Hinton's ambassadorship in El Salvador he was involved with the investigation of the 1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador.[4] He also investigated the Santa Rita massacre, confirming the Salvadoran military's version of events and stating that "they have not tried to hide anything."[5] It was later revealed that American military advisors had been present on the Salvadoran military base the attack issued from[5] and that the Salvadoran officer who ordered the killings, Mario Reyes Mena, then a colonel, became a legal resident of the United States in 1987.[6]

Personal life

Hinton was married twice before 1982. His first marriage, to an American, produced five children and ended in divorce. The second marriage was to a Chilean and ended with her death. In 1982, he was engaged to a Salvadoran named Patricia de Lopez.[4]

According to Joan Didion, he spoke with a "high Montana twang".[4]

References

  1. ↑ Adam Curtis (16 June 2011). "The Baby and the Baath water". Adam Curtis Blog- The Medium and the Message. BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Young, Crawford; Thomas Turner (1985). The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State. Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 373. ISBN 0-299-10110-X. OCLC 11548384.
  3. ↑ Deane Hinton, Envoy Who Denounced Salvadoran ‘Death Squads,’ Dies at 94
  4. 1 2 3 4 Didion, Joan (1994). Salvador. New York: Vintage International. pp. 87–89. ISBN 0679751831.
  5. 1 2 "In Cold Blood: Salvadorian Colonel who Plotted Murder has been Living in United States". Zembla. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  6. ↑ Selsky, Andrew (24 March 2019). "Justice Sought for 4 Dutch Journalists Killed in El Salvador". AP News. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
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