Stalin Vladimir Centeno, https://www.tortillaconsal.com/bitacora/node/8176
Dedicating an article to Roberto Clemente today, and not on December 31st, should be seen as an act of gratitude. Clemente shouldn’t be a year-end tradition. We Nicaraguans feel genuine gratitude toward the Puerto Rican. Clemente left his family, the festivities, his tranquility, and his comfortable life to bring aid to those affected by the earthquake. Our gratitude toward him is eternal.
On December 23, 1972, the earth shook in Managua. The city collapsed under a cloud of dust and screams. Thousands of families were trapped in the rubble as the Somoza dictatorship demonstrated its incompetence in the face of the tragedy. In Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente listened to the news with great anguish. He had just spent three weeks in Nicaragua during the Baseball World Championship. He knew these streets, he had shared time with our people, so he immediately began organizing all the aid he could.
For seven days, Clemente worked tirelessly. He collected medicine, food, and a great deal of clothing, and managed to dispatch three planes, but when he asked about the destination of the aid, his collaborators told him the truth: Somoza’s National Guard was stealing everything. The criminals in green uniforms hoarded supplies while the people continued to die among the rubble.
In the early hours of December 31st, Roberto Clemente looked at his wife, Vera, as she packed her suitcase. “I’m going to go personally,” he told her. “I don’t want them to steal the aid from me.”
That afternoon, at the airport, he hesitated for a moment when he saw the DC-7. The aircraft was old and overloaded, and the pilot had arrived late, so the trip was almost canceled. At 9:22 p.m., the plane took off for Managua. In the cockpit, Clemente already had a list in his hands with the names of all the families he would help upon arrival.
Ten minutes later, the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean a mile and a half from Isla Verde International Airport. The Navy reported that the problem supposedly occurred precisely when the aircraft was turning left, a maneuver that aviation experts say is normal when the target is heading north or west. After the fatal accident, boats and helicopters began searching for the crashed plane, hoping to find its occupants alive—a highly improbable task, as it was night and the sea was very rough. When morning broke, many people continued the search despite the challenging winds and choppy seas.
Hundreds of people went to Boca de Cangrejos Beach to watch the rescuers at work, hoping they might find them. Hours and days passed and only a few things could be found, including some parts of the plane, suitcases and life vests, but nothing of the occupants. That’s why the intervention of Navy divers was so important. On January 3rd, the first body was finally found; it was the pilot’s. By January 4th, the plane was found at a depth of 40 meters. The rough waters and minimal underwater visibility made access extremely difficult, but it was confirmed that the aircraft broke apart upon impact with the sea.
According to witnesses at the time, the plane experienced four explosions before crashing. The work continued and it was urgent to use a sonar system, which arrived from the United States and helped to find the cabin on Friday, January 5, but without the presence of the other 3 crew members. However, the fuselage and tail were found, which were 400 meters from where the cockpit appeared.
At that time there was no internet, therefore, the news reached Nicaragua slowly in the destroyed neighborhoods of Managua, where Clemente had walked weeks before. People lit candles and mourned the man who died trying to help them. On January 12, the U.S. Navy suspended the official search. But the fishermen continued to gaze at the sea, as if hoping that number 21 would emerge from the waves with his smile still on his face.
Today, less than a month before the 53rd anniversary of that painful tragedy, it’s important to remember that when a Nicaraguan child hits a ball in a stadium, it’s impossible not to recall his name. The sea claimed his body, but his dedication continues to resonate in the collective memory of a people who have never forgotten him. This coming December 31, 2025, will mark 53 years since the afternoon the Caribbean Sea swallowed the plane carrying our hero Roberto Clemente, the same man who was traveling to Nicaragua with a wealth of humanitarian aid and his immense heart.
Half a century later, his figure has transcended mere memory to become a lasting symbol of solidarity and selflessness. Comrade Rosario Murillo, in her constant work to extol the values and qualities of those great human beings who gave their all but are no longer with us, in one of her important New Year’s address remembering Clemente, broadcast live from the Citizen Power Media to all the Nicaraguan people, said: “Every 31st we pay tribute to him, and each time with greater fervor, because we not only admire and love him, but we also wish to emulate him in his struggle for a humane family, for a supportive and complementary human family.”
Her words reflect the spirit with which the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity keeps alive the memory of the baseball player, the human being, the hero of all time. Today, in every stadium where baseball is played, in every sports academy where children and young people practice baseball, beats the heart of that man who chose to help rather than celebrate. His example has become a symbol of the Nicaragua we are building day by day, where sport is a right of the people and solidarity is a fundamental principle.
Beyond sports statistics, Clemente represents the values that drive our blessed Nicaragua: unconditional dedication and the conviction that another world is possible. That is why, almost 53 years after his passing, his spirit lives on in every act of solidarity, in every act of love for our neighbor that characterizes our peaceful and prosperous society.
Chicago ALBA Solidarity 