A Colombian House Representative-elect caused outrage on social media on Thursday by stating that recently deceased author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is going to hell for his friendships with leftist leaders and his own leftist political ideals.
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Maria Fernanda Cabal, Senator-elect for the right-wing Democratic Center (Centro Democratico – CD) party of former President Alvaro Uribe, posted a picture on twitter of Garcia Marquez with his friend, former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, captioned: “soon they will be together in hell.”
Bueno, lo peor que le podía pasar a Gabo es que le desearan el cielo… pic.twitter.com/WjcyB8tVlD
— Tola y Maruja (@Tolaymaruja) April 18, 2014
The original tweet was subsequently removed from Senator Cabal’s page but further, equally negative tweets in her defense soon followed.
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Cabal posted tweets with captions such as “what a productive friendship! Millionaire communists,” as well as a map of the proximity of Garcia Marquez’s home to Fidel Castro’s entitled “Gabo’s mansion adjoining that of satanic prince Fidel.”
Q amistad tan productiva! Los comunistas millonarios… @_El_Patriota @drvargasquemba @juancamelo @ricardopuentesm pic.twitter.com/Jid43ZxlV3
— Maria Fernanda Cabal (@MariaFdaCabal) abril 17, 2014
Mansion de GABO contigua a la del Principe satanico Fidel… pic.twitter.com/VhndfcjBmo
— Maria Fernanda Cabal (@MariaFdaCabal) abril 17, 2014
Additionally, the Congresswoman went on saying “How funny. Would he have told how he ordered to kill [popular 1940s Liberal politician Jorge Eliecer] Gaitan?
Tan comico..le habra contado como ordeno asesinar a Gaitan? @MackenzieEdo @_El_Patriota @juancamelo @drvargasquemba pic.twitter.com/QRwkzBO8mH
— Maria Fernanda Cabal (@MariaFdaCabal) April 17, 2014
Fellow twitter uses were not shy in voicing their outrage at the tweets with some naming them as “the worst tweets in Colombian history.”
Other Senators such as Armando Benedetti weighed in on the argument calling Cabal a “coward” for attacking the author.
Qué cobarde @MariaFdaCabal atacar a un muerto como Gabriel García Márquez.
— Armando Benedetti (@AABenedetti) abril 17, 2014
Garcia Marquez was openly friends with leftist figureheads such as Cuban leader Fidel Castro who he described as an “intellectual genius” in one interview.
Cabal has had a complicated past herself with her resignation from the Inspector General’s Office in 2007 for leaking information to the press concerning ongoing investigations into drug traffickers as well as claims of interference with Human Rights investigations. The conservative politician is the wife of Jose Felix Lafaurie, the controversial leader of the cattle rancher federation Fedegan who’s faced numerous accusations of supporting right-wing paramilitary groups.
Literary Nobel Prize winner Garcia Marquez passed away on Thursday in Mexico City where he will be cremated.
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