Robert Woodward; U.S. Diplomat in S. America

Robert Forbes Woodward, an authority on Latin American affairs who had served as ambassador to four Spanish-speaking countries, has died. He was 92.

Woodward died of cardiovascular disease Friday at his home in Washington, D.C.

Woodward spent the better part of his career in Inter-American affairs, most notably as President Kennedy’s assistant secretary of state for Latin American affairs in 1961 and 1962.

He was known as a plain-speaking diplomat who shunned the pomp associated with overseas assignments and won recognition for his courtesy, goodwill and intelligence, as well as his special interest in economic development.

As assistant secretary of state, Woodward was placed in charge of Alliance for Progress, the administration’s multibillion-dollar improvement program for Latin America.

After eight months in the post, Woodward was replaced by fellow Foreign Service officer Edwin M. Martin and was reassigned as ambassador to Spain.

Woodward retired from the Foreign Service in 1968, and two years later, he became acting provost of the old Elbert Covell College at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. The college was an experiment in fostering better Latin American relations, offering all its courses in Spanish to about 100 students from this country and about 75 students from Latin American nations.

He spent about a year there before becoming a consultant and serving a four-year term as a member of the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Woodward was a native of Minneapolis and a 1930 graduate of the University of Minnesota. He entered the Foreign Service in 1931 and served in consular and embassy posts in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Buenos Aires; Asuncion, Paraguay; Bogota, Colombia; and Rio de Janeiro.

He was deputy assistant secretary of state for Inter-American affairs before being named ambassador to Costa Rica in 1954. He was ambassador to Uruguay from 1958 to 1961 and ambassador to Chile in 1961.