David Foster Belnap (July 27, 1922 – November 8, 2009) was an American journalist, foreign correspondent (1955 to 1980), director of Latin American press services for United Press International (UPI) (1962 to 1967) and Foreign Desk Editor of the Los Angeles Times (1980 to 1993).

He won the 1970 Ed Stout Award[1] of the Overseas Press Club for his series of articles on political changes in Chile [2] and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University in 1973 for his Latin American coverage.

[4][5] He interned at a young age at an Ogden, Utah, newspaper and took his first paying job with United Press news service, (a Scripps company), in Salt Lake City.

In 1967 (following unrest within UPI) he transferred to the Buenos Aires bureau of the Los Angeles Times, where he remained until 1980.

During his career, his major stories included Juan Peron's 1973 return to power in Argentina, the 1970 election of Socialist President Salvador Allende in Chile, the rise of rebel factions in Nicaragua[7] and the 1 977 Jacobo Timerman scandal.