The commander of Colombia’s second largest guerrilla group, the ELN, paid homage to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the recently deceased Colombian Nobel laureate, on Sunday.
“Maestro Garcia Marquez, the men and women of the National Liberation Army [ELN] send an eternal embrace to the Colombian who will live forever through his letters and works,” stated the rebel group’s leader, Commander Nicolas Rodriguez Bautista, via Twitter on Sunday.
Nicolás R., dice: Maestro, estas montañas siguen viviendo 100 años de soledad, abrazo eterno al colombiano insigne pic.twitter.com/kDh0fK72N0
— ELN (@ELN_Colombia) April 20, 2014
“Maestro, these mountains continue living in 100 years of solitude,” the commander said in a subsequent post, referencing the Colombian author’s most famous work.
Maestro García Márquez, abrazo eterno al colombiano insigne que vivirá siempre como sus letras y sus obras. Cte. Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista
— ELN (@ELN_Colombia) April 20, 2014
Marquez achieved international acclaim for his best-selling novel, 100 Years of Solitude. The book has been translated into more than 30 different languages.
The statement released on the ELN website paid tribute to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, widely considered one of Latin America’s most prolific writers. Maquez passed away on Thursday at his home in Mexico City.
The ELN made particular note of his ability to create a literary universe that portrays, “the grim reality experienced by the oppressed.”
“Some understand the tough reality that is life in Colombia, but few are capable of portraying it with genius, and even fewer have the courage to make public its essential truths to the country and the world, like Marquez did,” said the statement, “Thank you Gabo, for teaching us…that poetry harbors dreams of freedom.”
MORE: Colombia mourns death of ‘greatest writer ever’, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
On Thursday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos referred to the writer as the “greatest Colombian of all time.”
While the cause of death was not immediately known, the author had been hospitalized recently for a lung and urinary tract infection.
He was 87.
Sources
- @ELN_Colombia (Twitter)
- Gracias Gabo (ELN)