Relatives of recently deceased author and national Colombian icon Gabriel Garica Marquez, have requested that his ashes be brought to reside in Colombia from their current resting place in Mexico.
Relatives of the Nobel Prize Winner have asked the widow of Gabriel Garcia Marquez to reconsider her decision to keep the writers ashes in Mexico where the author and his family lived since the 1960s.
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Garcia Marquez, affectionately known as “Gabo” was born in the north of Colombia but — after a short stay in New York City — felt forced to move to Mexico at the height of the cold war in the 1960s after repeated criticism and death threats over his leftist political ideals and personal friendship with Fidel Castro, who later became communist dictator of Cuba.
The request for the ashes was made by Gabo’s sister, Aida Rosa García Márquez, who has conceded that her brothers widow, Mercedes Barcha, and their children, should make the final decision.
According to Aida Rose, “we have to wait and see what it is they decide to do. We would have liked the ashes to already be here but circumstances have not allowed that,” reported Caracol Radio.
“I want to bring the ashes to where most of the family is, here in Cartagena, where three brothers and most of the nieces and nephews live.”
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With regards to Gabo’s house in Cartagena’s historic center, the family have not made an official statement but there is a presumption that it will be sold as over the years the plot of land has had many offers from hotel chains to buy the land for development.
In Colombia, Gabo continues to be seen as the country’s greatest writer in history, with iconic books like “100 Years of Solitude” and “Love in Times of Cholera” telling the story of his time in the Andean nation.
The celebrated writer passed away on April 17 in Mexico City due to health problems.