Carlos Miguel Suárez

Very little about Carlos Miguel Suárez Soto's early life has been made public. He was Mexican and spent his adult life in Mexico City, where he worked in television and later ran a food business. SDP Noticias reported his birth date as 30 January 1960, which would make him 66 at his death, while El Universal reported his age as 67. His family has not confirmed either figure, and his birthplace and parents' names have not been made public. Friends, including Roberto Tello, called him Charly.

Details of Carlos Miguel's schooling and acting training have not been made public. SDP Noticias, in its obituary profile, noted that his level of studies was unknown. He began his career at Televisa in small supporting parts and learned his craft on the sets of the network's telenovelas.

Carlos Miguel entered Televisa in supporting roles and became one of producer Emilio Larrosa's favourite villains. His credits include Muchachitas (1991), Dos mujeres, un camino (1993), Volver a empezar (1994), El premio mayor, Tú y yo (1996), Soñadoras (1998), Mujeres engañadas (1999), Amigas y rivales (2001), Las vías del amor (2002), La verdad oculta and Mujer de madera. He typically played neighbourhood toughs, henchmen and antagonists, sharing scenes with Yuri, Chayanne, Gloria Trevi, Ludwika Paleta, Angélica Vale, Michelle Vieth, Adamari López, Gabriel Soto, Arath de la Torre and Anahí.

In Volver a empezar (1994) he created Poncho, paired with Roberto Tello's El Coreano. The duo's mix of menace and comedy was so popular that Larrosa reunited them in Tú y yo (1996), the role that brought him his widest recognition.

After his 2012 kidnapping, work slowed. He appeared in Libre para amarte, Amores con trampa (2015), episodes of La rosa de Guadalupe and Mujer, casos de la vida real, and an episode of Como dice el dicho in 2018. In 2019 he and Tello revived Poncho and El Coreano in a stage comedy show. He later returned to telenovelas in small parts, including a security guard in Mi fortuna es amarte (2021 to 2022) and a role in Golpe de suerte (2023 to 2024).

The partnership between Carlos Miguel and Roberto Tello began on Volver a empezar, Emilio Larrosa's 1994 telenovela starring Yuri and Chayanne. Carlos Miguel's Poncho and Tello's Coreano were inseparable neighbourhood friends whose banter, private codes and schemes turned two minor villains into comic relief. Audience response led Larrosa to bring the pair back in Tú y yo (1996), where they shared storylines with a young Anahí. La Opinión later likened them to modern comic duos on Mexican television. The friendship outlasted the shows: in July 2019 the two announced a comedy stage show adapting the characters to modern times, performing until October 2019, and when Carlos Miguel died it was Tello who broke the news, signing off his tribute "Te quiero, Poncho."

In 2012, by his own account, Carlos Miguel was seized in Mexico City after leaving a telenovela call. The express kidnapping stretched to four days. He told Intrusos, De Primera Mano and Sale el Sol that he was beaten in the face, that tendons in his hands were cut and that he lost several teeth. Finding photographs of his daughters and a school receipt, the captors took him to the school at dismissal time to show they could reach the girls, then made him withdraw his savings and sign over two cars. He chose not to press charges for fear of reprisals, and said he later lost some memory and part of his hearing and went through depression.

With his appearance changed and fewer telenovelas being made, offers dried up. He tried selling tacos de canasta, which failed, until his friend and partner Fernando Lucio brought a cochinita pibil recipe. Their stand near Metro Chabacano, "La cochinita del tío Ferruco", went on to sell tacos, tortas, burritos and panuchos. When his situation went viral in 2019 some people mocked him, but he insisted that honest work carried no shame.

Carlos Miguel had two daughters, whose names have not been made public; protecting them was the reason he gave for not pursuing his kidnappers legally. The name of any wife or partner has not been made public. He lived and worked in Mexico City. He kept a lifelong friendship with Roberto Tello, who called him Charly, and ran his food business with his friend and partner Fernando Lucio. He kept an Instagram account as Carlos Miguel "el Poncho" (@carlos_miguel_actor) and a personal Facebook page, though Infobae noted that the Instagram account had been inactive for years before his death.

In interviews Carlos Miguel spoke repeatedly about dignity in work and financial prudence. He told Infobae in 2020 that he wished someone had advised him to save during his good years, compared some actors' lives to boxers who are surrounded by help at the top and abandoned when the money runs out, and encouraged colleagues to invest in something of their own. He also blamed part of his decline on changes in the industry, saying telenovelas had given way to series. Despite everything, he said he wanted to keep acting, because an actor who is born to the work wants to die doing what he loves.

Carlos Miguel is remembered as one of the recognisable villains of 1990s Televisa melodrama and, above all, as Poncho, a character whose scenes with El Coreano remain popular online. His later story, a television actor rebuilt as a street taquero after a violent kidnapping, became a widely shared example in Mexico of the precarious lives of supporting actors and of the toll of kidnapping on victims. News of his death trended across Mexican and Latin American media, from Televisa's Las Estrellas and Univision to Infobae, El Universal and SDP Noticias.

Muchachitas (1991); Dos mujeres, un camino (1993); Volver a empezar (1994, as Poncho); El premio mayor; Tú y yo (1996, as Poncho); Soñadoras (1998); Mujeres engañadas (1999); Amigas y rivales (2001); Las vías del amor (2002); La verdad oculta; Mujer de madera; Libre para amarte; Amores con trampa (2015); Mujer, casos de la vida real; La rosa de Guadalupe; Como dice el dicho (2018 episode); Mi fortuna es amarte (2021 to 2022); Golpe de suerte (2023 to 2024). Interviews about his life include Intrusos (2019), De Primera Mano (2019), Sale el Sol (Imagen Televisión) and Primer Impacto (Univision).

Roberto Tello announced Carlos Miguel's death in the early hours of 20 October 2026 (Mexico time) with an Instagram video of the pair and the message "Descansa en paz, mi querido Charly. Te quiero, Poncho." Outlets disagree on the date: Las Estrellas, Univision and La Razón place it on Monday 19 October 2026, while Infobae and SDP Noticias say Tuesday 20 October 2026. Reported ages also differ, 66 (SDP Noticias) or 67 (El Universal). Posts on his own Instagram and Facebook, attributed by Infobae to friends and distant relatives, said he had suffered a heart attack, but this has not been confirmed by his immediate family, doctors or authorities, so the cause has not been made public. Infobae noted that in his last public appearances, in 2022 and 2023, he looked noticeably thinner. Funeral arrangements have not been made public.