Today marks 15 days since the Government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua imprisoned the journalist Miguel Mendoza. He is one of the 27 people abducted without trial for being a critic or opposing the government. The sports journalist, whose voice is one of the best known and most respected in that Central American country, plays one of the most important games of his life and perhaps of Nicaragua. He has over 140 000 followers on social media and spoke out against the dictatorship. Here we tell his story.
A childhood in the Nicaraguan mountains
Miguel Ángel Mendoza Urbina was born in the middle of the mountains of Nicaragua on April 19, 1970, in Camoapa, a municipality in the Department of Boaco. He is part of a humble family of 11 siblings: seven boys and four sisters. His mother, Mrs. Salvadora Urbina, who turned 90 years this past June, consented Miguel the most.
In his childhood, he liked to play baseball with his brothers and friends, and on some occasions, he dreamed of playing in the professional leagues. He studied in primary and high school in Camoapa, where he stood out for being a good student. His favorite subject was mathematics. For college, he moved to Managua and studied journalism at the Universidad Americana(UCA).
Since he was little, Miguel knew what he wanted. Reporting on sports always caught his attention. He read the newspapers, was aware of the fights that were broadcast on the radio, and memorized the names of significant sports figures. When he had an opportunity to go to university, he did not hesitate to study journalism.
Fundamedios talked to Margin Pozo, Miguel’s wife, who told us about the enormous sacrifice he made to study. He came from a small town far away, and without relatives to support him in Managua. «It was not easy at all, but his desire to get ahead and achieve a place in the world of sports, made him overcome any adversity.»
In his autobiography, Miguel Mendoza reveals this chapter of his life: » I discarded the shoe store, the family trade, and being a teacher. My maths teacher, Benjamín Suárez, reminded me every day that I decided to study journalism as my life project when I reached the fifth grade. I chose it without even knowing where I would live or how I would survive in the capital, as the family’s difficult economic situation did not allow great plans. I had the academic average to classify in any course, but I was focused on following what I believed was my vocation».
A phrase says: «Who perseveres achieves, and Miguel is testimony to that, » says his wife. She recalls that he always listened to Don Edgar Tijerino on Double Play, considered the best sports pundit in Nicaragua. Miguel wanted to be like him.
A dream come true
While at the university, on one occasion, Miguel had the opportunity to visit the Radio Catolica de Nicaragua where La Doble Jugada was broadcast. He prevailed visiting the station as many times as needed until he was hired at this program. He worked at that sports program, until the day of his arrest on June 21, 2021.
The 76 year old Edgar Tijerino, the best-known sports journalist in Nicaragua, remembers that when he gave a speech e of the talks he gave at the university, he met Miguel and became friends. «He started working in 1995, and we have been working together continuously for 25 years. He has become an excellent sports journalist and broadened his range of knowledge and began to venture into the political sphere,» he recalls.
Tijerino considered Miguel as a loyal friend with whom he developed a strong relationship, even though at some point they belonged to opposite political fronts. «I was someone who belonged to the Sandinista front, and he has been an anti-Sandinista. Despite being on opposing shores, a friendship began».
In 2018, when a group of armed civilians stole Mendoza’s car, Tijerino lent him his youngest daughter’s car for six months.
One of the sentences of the reviews written by Miguel Mendoza says: «in May 1995, the following month after escaping alive from an attack by psychopaths who, with shrapnel fire, wanted to stop the bus from Camoapa to Managua, with a balance of eight dead and 30 wounded, the invitation I waited for came like a balm, perhaps without knowing it since I memorized complete programs in Porfirio’s shoe store. Tijerino offered me to be in Double Play, not to be the news, but to look for it, say it, comment on it and argue with it».
For more than 23 years, he has stood out for his journalistic work, specializing in sports in television and radio media. He also worked on Channel 2, one of the most viewed stations, for more than 20 years, covering major sporting events such as the Central- and Pan-American games or the Olympics. He reported on fundamental boxing events with fighters such as Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya, Román González, Rosendo Álvarez, to name a few. He has also broadcast national baseball and attended various international events accompanying the Nicaraguan national baseball team.
He is currently one of the sports journalists with the most followers on Facebook and Twitter, with an average of 140,000 followers on both networks.
The arrest of a journalist
During the night of June 21, the Nicaraguan Police raided several homes to imprison dissident voices. The Government of Daniel Ortega arrested sports journalist Miguel Mendoza under the following charges: «Carrying out acts that undermine independence, sovereignty, and self-determination, inciting foreign interference in internal affairs, requesting military interventions, organizing with financing from foreign powers to carry out acts of terrorism and destabilization, proposing and managing economic blockades, commercial and financial operations against the country and its institutions, demanding, exalting and applauding the imposition of sanctions against the State of Nicaragua and its citizens and injuring the supreme interests of the Nation.»
Fifteen days have passed since his arrest, and his family and friends are unaware of his health. Margin Pozo, his wife, says they feel pain, despair, sadness and helplessness: «The house feels empty without him. Our 7 year old daughter and I miss him. The girl cries every day for him. We had to tell her that his father is traveling to avoid explaining what is happening. All relatives are also devastated by this situation.»
Every morning his colleague Edgar Tijerino starts the radio program Double Play , he asks the Nicaraguan Government about Miguel’s health. Every day he repeats, «this is an unjust arrest. Miguel should not be imprisoned. The only thing he wanted was democracy in his country».
Journalist Gerald Chávez, who runs the digital media outlet Nicaragua Actual, always admired Miguel. Now Chavez manages Miguel’s social media: «We were able to control his accounts, and we are reporting through his networks, in a moment in Nicaragua where there is intimidation and systematic persecution to silence critical journalism. Miguel has a great deal of influence on social media. Since the crisis began, he took advantage of his voice to share and report information about what was happening in the country.»
As administrator of Miguel’s accounts, he knows that in recent months Miguel received death threats and all kinds of intimidation from troll centers and Daniel Ortega’s followers, who even demanded jail for the sports pundit.
Miguel’s wife, Margin Pozo, demands his immediate release. «He has not committed any crime. He is a journalist who shared his opinion on situations with which he disagreed on his social networks, but it is not illegal to think differently.»