Nicaragua paid tribute in Managua to national hero and outstanding Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente, whose legacy of solidarity and brotherhood prevails today in the soul of this Central American people.

Managua, January 2 (PL)-- Nicaragua paid tribute in Managua to national hero and outstanding Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente, whose legacy of solidarity and brotherhood prevails today in the soul of this Central American people.

Several activities took place in this capital to honor Clemente, on the occasion of the commemoration on Saturday of the 50th anniversary of his physical disappearance in the Caribbean Sea, when he came to Nicaragua with solidarity aid for the victims of the 1972 earthquake.

During a ceremony for the anniversary held on the grounds of the national baseball stadium, President Daniel Ortega said that the athlete's body was buried at sea, but his spirit of solidarity remained in the soul of Nicaraguans.

"Thank you Clemente, thank you for your heroism, thank you for your integrity, thank you for your humanity," said the head of state.

In that sense, he called on the Nicaraguan people to assume the example of the Puerto Rican player in all spheres of life, and described Clemente as an extraordinary human being who fulfilled the principle of love for his fellow man.

"He could have perfectly dispatched the load to Nicaragua and stayed with his family to say goodbye to the year and wait for the year there in Puerto Rico with his wife, his children, his friends and he said: No, I have to go there to Nicaragua to deliver this aid directly," he recalled.

As part of the tributes, there was also a race from the Loma de Tiscapa to the square that bears the name of the baseball player in the Luis Alfonso Velásquez Flores Park in this city, where children, young people and sports personalities placed floral offerings.