Miguel D’escoto Brockmann

Nicaraguan diplomat and former president of the UN General Assembly

Miguel D’escoto Brockmann, Nicaraguan diplomat, Born: 5 February, 1933 in Los Angeles, California. Died: 8 June 2017, aged 84

Miguel D’escoto Brockmann, Nicaragua’s former foreign minister and ex-president of the UN General Assembly, has died. He was 84 and had suffered a stroke several months earlier.

Vice-president Rosario Murillo, wife of President Daniel Ortega, said D’escoto Brockmann died “unexpectedly” on June 8.

He was born in the United States to a Nicaraguan diplomat who served in the administration of dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia. Later, after being ordained a priest and adopting liberation theology, he joined the Sandinista guerrilla movement that would eventually topple the Somoza dynasty.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II declared that D’escoto Brockmann and three other priests could not celebrate Mass because of their government activities.

After Ortega returned to power in 2007, he sent D’escoto Brockmann to New York to be Nicaragua’s representative before the United Nations. He served as the General Assembly president in 2008 and 2009.

Pope Francis lifted the suspension, permitting D’escoto Brockmann to celebrate Mass, in 2014.