US diplomat Robert White has passed away at the age of 88.
During his 25 years working in the State Department, White specialized in Latin American affairs and was especially active in Central America during the 1970s and 1980s. He regularly opposed any US policy that supported dictatorships and was fired when he refused Secretary of State Alexander Haig's demand to cover up the murder of four American church workers by the Salvadoran military.
White was also a strong critic of the US Government's policy on Cuba. Following last month's news that President Obama was taking moves to normalize US-Cuba relations, White told a former correspondent, "It's a start."