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Former ABC News senior correspondent Jim Avila has died at the age of 69 after battling a "long illness," the network announced on Thursday.

Avila, who worked as a correspondent on the ABC series "20/20," left ABC News in 2021 following a kidney transplant in 2020. Additional details on Avila's death were not disclosed by the network.

"Jim was an L.A.-based correspondent specializing in politics , justice, law and consumer investigations for nearly two decades," ABC News Live anchor Diane Macedo said. "He also worked in the White House and broke the news that the U.S. and Cuba had reopened diplomatic relations. That story earned him the prestigious Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents Association."

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