In the city of Santiago, a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda has been initiated unanimously by an appeals court. Neruda passed away on September 23rd, 1973, a mere 12 days after the rise to power of dictator Augusto Pinochet. Neruda had been openly critical of Pinochet’s regime.
Despite the closure of the initial investigation last September, the appeals court has ordered its reopening, indicating the presence of further measures that can be taken to determine whether Neruda died from natural causes, cancer, or poisoning. This includes a review of the poet’s death certificate and the questioning of doctor and retired Army officer Eduardo Arriagada Rehren.
In 2021, Arriagada was convicted for the murder of communist sympathizer Archivaldo Morales, who was given dipyridamole to trigger a heart attack, a narrative that closely resembles what occurred with Neruda.
Neruda, a well-known ally of Chilean President Salvador Allende, had intended to go into exile after the rise to power. However, just one day before he planned to depart, the writer, afflicted with metastatic prostate cancer, had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He passed away the following day. For 38 years, cancer was the official cause of his death.
However, suspicions that Neruda’s death was not related to his illness have persisted in Chile since the country embraced democracy. In 2011, his former driver, Manuel Araya, informed the Mexican magazine Proceso that Neruda had been murdered by an injection at the clinic, prompting the Chilean government to investigate his death.
Three different scientific panels have examined the case and reached differing conclusions, with no definitive confirmation that Neruda’s death was due to natural causes. Furthermore, the possibility of death by poisoning is not being ruled out.
Pablo Neruda is considered one of the most celebrated Latin American writers and the most eminent poet of Chile. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971. His
“Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair”
are regarded as a high point in romantic poetry.
Image Source: Pablo Neruda Official @ Instagram