Gabriel García Márquez, 1982 Nobel Laureate and one of the most influential authors of these times, died on Thursday at the age of 87. García Márquez had been suffering health problems affecting his lungs that had left him hospitalized the first week of April. His body was cremated on Friday and now the question that remains is: “Where are his ashes going to rest?” There has been a lot of speculation on whether his family is returning the remains of his body to Aracataca, Colombia, his hometown, or if they’re going to keep his ashes in Mexico, the land he called his home since the 60’s.
On Friday afternoon, the Colombian ambassador in Mexico, José Gabriel Ortiz, visited García Márquez’s family to pay his respects. As he was leaving the writer’s home, he spoke to the press and said that he believes dividing the ashes between Colombia and Mexico would be a good idea. “Part of the ashes should remain in Mexico, for sure, and I think that some could be taken to Colombia,” he said. He stressed that Colombians would also like to pay his respects the way García Márquez deserves and that’s where the idea of having some of his ashes rest in his native country came from.
Ortiz also added details about the official posthumous tribute, to take place on Monday at 4 p.m. local Mexican time at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The ambassador and Rafael Tovar, head of the National Council for Culture and the Arts will receive Gabo’s ashes there from his family, and will place them in a podium. They will be responsible for the first guard. It is stipulated that Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, will do the final guard.
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