Managua, Nicaragua, Jun 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Daniel Ortega, who led the Sandinista government in Nicaragua during the 1980’s and was a declared enemy of Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, has proposed that the Cardinal be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, “in recognition of his struggle for national reconciliation.”
Ortega announced his proposal after meeting with the Cardinal last Friday at the Catholic University in Managua, where they discussed “issues of common interest.”
According to Ortega, a fierce opponent of the Cardinal during the 1980’s, “Cardinal Obando was a determining factor in the efforts we made during the Sandinista government to sign the peace accords with the counterrevolutionary groups.”
During their meeting, the Sandinista leader also asked the Cardinal to celebrate Mass in memory of the more than 45,000 people of both sides who died during the military conflict between the Sandinista government and the so-called “counterrevolutionary” groups of the time.