Pablo Neruda, a Nobel-prize-winning Chilean poet, died in 1973. But some feel that questions still surround his death. A devoted communist himself, Neruda died just days after Chile’s socialist president Salvador Allende was ousted in a coup and replaced by brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Did supporters or agents of Pinochet poison Neruda, an influential man and personal friend of the president, to ensure the lasting success of their coup?
Maybe this is just a wild conspiracy theory. But since 2011, Chilean officials have been investigating the theory that staff at the clinic that treated Neruda for cancer in his final days actually injected him with poison. Investigators have just gotten permission for the exhumation of Neruda’s body, which should answer these questions once and for all.
This is not the first time that Chilean officials have had to exhume a body to check on their understanding of history from the tumultuous Pinochet period. President Allende was exhumed in 2011 to confirm he died of suicide. Many questions remain from the days of Pinochet, and finding answers to these questions is a necessary part of the nation’s ongoing healing process.