Miguel Obando y Bravo was born in 1926 in La Libertad, Nicaragua. After school he entered into the order of the Salesianer in San Juan Bosco, and studied philosophy, Catholic theology and psychology in El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, and Venezuela.
He was the Archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua and became a cardinal in 1985. Obando y Bravos mediated between the Nicaraguan government and the resistance movement in the seventies and eighties. In 1987 he became president of the National Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Nicaragua (Comisión Nacional de Reconciliacion de la Republica de Nicaragua). Once again he intervened between the government and the peace movement.
He was a witness of peace talks between the Nicaraguan government and the Nicaraguan resistance movement at a UN meeting in 1988. He continued working for peace through the nineties and received numerous national and international awards for his efforts.
Over the last two decades Obando y Bravo was involved in several political corruption scandals, which weakened his position as an ambassador of peace, as well as public opinion of his moral integrity domestically and abroad.
He received the Bruno Kreisky Prize in 1979 for his early efforts for peace dialogue.
More Information:
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