In Memoriam: H. E. Rodrigo Carazo (1926-2009)

December 10, 2009 — It is with great sadness that the Summit Council for World Peace announces the passing of the Co-Chair of its Board of Presidents, H. E. Dr. Rodrigo Carazo, President of Costa Rica (1978-82), who died yesterday in San Jose, Costa Rica at the age of 82.

President Carazo was not only a great patriot and statesman, but throughout his life was a relentless advocate of peace. He believed that peace depends on each and every one of us, and
considered spiritual and cultural achievements, as well as genuine love for one’s fellow man and the struggle for social justice, as the tools that can be used to sow peace and prevent violence. He emphasized that the main social mandate is to seek peace by all possible means.

During his term as President, in which he helped catapult Costa Rica to one of the leading nations for ecological tourism, he proposed the United Nations University of Peace, chartered in 1983 by the UN General Assembly, and he became its first rector. As he said at that time, “If you want peace, prepare for peace.” In recent years, he was very active in election monitoring missions in Latin America of the Carter Center, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Dr. Carazo’s work of peace around the world could have won him the Nobel Peace Prize, but he never wished to promote himself or seek such honors. Just two months ago, he joined nine other former Latin American presidents in Lima, Peru, to warn against inequality, social exclusion and the arms race in South America, and propose solutions to the continent’s most pressing economic and social problems.

President Carazo was a great friend of the founders of the Summit Council, Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, since 1980, and very involved in the Council’s work since its inception. In particular, Dr. Carazo traveled to Seoul in 1985 with 17 former heads of state and government to greet Rev. Moon with honor immediately after the latter’s unjust 13-month incarceration in the United States. Moreover, in 1992 and 1994, as Chairman of our International Commission for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, Carazo led delegations of former heads of state to North Korea, each time reinforcing a friendship and trust he established with the late President Kim Il Sung. In October 2008, he publicly advocated in Seoul the building there of a World Peace and Unity Temple that could be a common home for all the world’s major religions. In May this year, he led a special Summit Council program at our Washington headquarters on prospects for the improvement of U.S. relations with Cuba under the Obama administration.

President Carazo is survived by his beloved wife, Estrella, Co-Chair of our Board of Presidents, and four sons. Truly a giant among statesmen who endeavored for peace has left us. Our deepest hope is that his legacy of tirelessly pursuing the achievement of peace around the world will continue to inspire men and women in the years to come.