Following a complaint filed Tuesday by the Chilean Communist Party, Judge Mario Carrizosa has ordered an investigation.
According to the official version, Pablo Neruda, considered the greatest Latin American poet, died of cancer on September 23 1973, a mere 12 days after the coup d’état staged by General Augusto Pinochet on president Salvador Allende.
The official version however, has been questioned by the poet’s driver, Manuel Araya, who claims the poet was murdered by dictatorship officials, who injected the master with an unknown substance.
Additionally, attorney Eduardo Contreras—who filed the complaint explained that as well as the driver’s story, he has collected the testimonies of several other people, including former Mexican ambassador in Chile Gonzalo Martínez Corvalán, who spent time with Neruda the day before his death and say the poet was chipper, conversational, and could walk about his room, discussing politics with Martínez.
This investigation is one of 726 complaints of human rights violations carried out since September 11, 1973 until March 11, 1990, among which is the death of former President Salvador Allende.
