Background
Diego de Escobar y Osorio was born in the Captaincy General of Chile, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Diego de Escobar y Osorio was born in the Captaincy General of Chile, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
He was named Governor of Paraguay in 1644. However, he did not arrive in the province to begin his governorship until February 1647. On his journey there, he met in Corrientes Bernardino de Cárdenas, the deposed Bishop of Asunción.
Cárdenas had been involved in an acrimonious dispute with the Governor of Paraguay being replaced, Gregorio de Hinestrosa.
Cárdenas pled his case to Osorio and gained his temporary support. The two entered Asunción together to a warm welcome from the citizenry, and Osorio replaced Hinestrosa.
Despite Osorio"s support of Cárdenas"s return, he stayed neutral in the continuing dispute between Cárdenas"s faction and Hinestrosa"s faction. According to historian Adalberto López, Osorio "proved to be an exceptionally intelligent and able administrator" and he "managed to keep himself neutral and to prevent violent threats from becoming violent acts." However, his reign was short.
Osorio died only 2 years into his term.