The nephew of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Rodolfo Reyes, confirmed this Monday to EL PAÍS that the international panel of experts that analyzed the bacterium Clostridium botulinum found in his body in 2017 concluded that its origin was endogenous, which supports the thesis of would confirm the Communist Party’s complaint that the substance was “injected as a biological weapon,” meaning he died of poisoning. The results of the report are expected to be published this Wednesday.
“I can say it because I know the reports. I say that as a lawyer and nephew with a lot of responsibility because the judge can’t point it out yet because she needs to have all the information,” Reyes told the newspaper, confirming what the family told Eph agency. “Have on it We waited because the 2017 panel had already found Clostridium botulinum. But it was not known whether it was endogenous or exogenous. That is, whether it was internal or external. And now it has been proved that it was endogenous and that it was injected or placed,” he added.
The Nobel laureate died on September 23, 1973 at the San María Clinic in Santiago, 12 days after the coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende. For 40 years, the official cause of death was metastatic prostate cancer. That was until his ex-driver Manuel Araya pointed out that he was poisoned, a statement that formed the basis of the lawsuit filed by the Communist Party.
So far, only Neruda’s nephew has shared details of the results of the tests conducted by the international panel of experts. The report’s conclusions were due to be officially announced last week, but its members failed to reach consensus and the announcement was pushed back to February 15. Although the information is non-binding, the judge on the case, Paola Plaza, must assess the scientific evidence with the inquest to determine whether there was any third-party intervention in the Chilean poet’s death.
information under development.