MENDEZ PEREZ Arley

General
COMPETING FOR CHILE
He represented Cuba at junior international level, but he decided to remain in Chile after competing at the 2013 Pan American and South American Junior Championships in Santiago. In March 2017 he obtained Chilean citizenship, and took part in his first international competition for his new country at the 2017 Bolivarian Games in Santa Marta, Colombia, where he won gold in the 85kg category. "I am grateful to Cuba. I grew up there, the drive and perseverance I inherited from my family, a family of fighters. I studied for free there, I graduated as a physical education teacher without paying a peso. I have respect and affection for Cuba, but today my duty is to my country, Chile." (panamsports.org, 05 Mar 2019; iwf.net, 2018; adnradio.cl, 22 Nov 2017, 20 Nov 2017; eldeportero.cl, 17 Mar 2017)

LONGING FOR FAMILY
Born in Cuba, he became a Chilean citizen in 2017. He is no longer allowed to enter Cuba, which meant he could not attend his father's funeral in December 2017. He hopes to arrange for the rest of his family to join him in Chile at some point in the future. "Having Chilean nationality, I lose the Cuban one, but to enter Cuba I have to do it with my Cuban passport. They said to me at the embassy, 'No, you cannot enter because you are sanctioned'. It's very hard to go so long without seeing your family. I communicate with them when I can. I'm going through the procedures so they can come to live here. I have to send them the invitation letters [so I hope] that they like it and want to stay. It was a hard blow [when his father died], he was the engine of the family." (economiaynegocios.cl, 18 Feb 2018)

He became the first weightlifter representing Chile to win a medal of any colour at the world championships when he claimed all three gold medals [snatch, clean and jerk, overall] in the 85kg category at the 2017 edition in Anaheim, CA, United States of America. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Sep 2019; iwf.net, 04 Dec 2017)