Robelo was rector of the
University of Central America from 1970 to 1972 and President of the
Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce until 1975. He then headed the
Nicaraguan Development Institute, long active in the development of independent agricultural and small business cooperatives.
Political engagement Following the assassination of
La Prensa editor
Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal in 1978, which turned sympathies against the
Somoza regime, Robelo cofounded the
Nicaraguan Democratic Movement, a social-democratic political party of businessmen, industrialists, and professionals opposed to the current government. A leader and main spokesman for FAO working openly against the regime, he was arrested and publicly labeled a "subversive" by Somoza. Following the revolution, Robelo was one of the "moderates" on the five-member
Junta of National Reconstruction intended rule Nicaragua after the overthrow of
Anastasio Somoza Debayle. However, Robelo found that the real power lay with the FSLN National Directorate. He resigned in April 1980 because of the Marxist tendencies in the FSLN-dominated government and the growing Cuban influence in the country. Became President of the Democratic Coordinating Board. Harassed by the FSLN after his resignation from the junta and detained by the Sandinistas when he sought to travel abroad in 1982, he was finally forced into exile later that year, and his property was confiscated. In 1982, he joined with Edén Pastora and others in founding the ARDE, seeking to achieve the original democratic goals of the revolution. After resigning from the Junta on April 22, 1981, Robelo went into exile in 1982. He brought his MDN into
Edén Pastora's rebel
Democratic Revolutionary Alliance. Later, he split with Pastora, and joined the
United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO) with
Arturo Cruz, and
Adolfo Calero of the
Nicaraguan Democratic Force. After UNO's collapse, he joined the directorate of the new
Contra umbrella group, the
Nicaraguan Resistance, in May 1987. Following the
Esquipulas accord, President
Oscar Arias of Costa Rica announced in January 1988 that Contra leaders could no longer live in his country. With his pregnant wife opposing a move from Costa Rica, he resigned from the directorate in early 1988. The post-Sandinista government of
Violeta Chamorro appointed Robelo to be ambassador to Costa Rica. In 1993, he was taken hostage during a standoff at the embassy. == Personal life ==